Domestic abuse has become a critical concern for female athletes
Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei died four days after being attacked and set on fire by her former partner, Dickson Ndiema. She had been receiving treatment at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret City, Kenya after being doused in petrol resulting in burns to almost 80% of her body.
According to police reports, Cheptegei’s death occurred over an argument about land as the couple were seen arguing outside their house. She is said to have purchased a piece of land in Trans Nzoia County to build a house near the athletic training centers. Cheptegei was attacked after arriving home from church, accompanied by her two daughters. She died at 33-years-old after her organs failed.
A month before the attack, the Ugandan marathon runner had finished in 44th place during the Paris Olympics. She had the season’s best time of 2:32:14 and a personal best of 2:22:47. Following the T54 and T12 marathons, a spoken eulogy was on the public address system along with a photo of Cheptgei celebrating on the side of the finish line at the Esplandes de Invalides. During a minute’s applause to acknowledge the memory of the Olympian, she was referred to as a victim of femicide.
Cheptegei’s former partner, Ndiema, who allegedly is responsible for the attacks, was also admitted to the hospital with less severe burns. However, he succumbed to his injuries days after Cheptegei’s death at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
In 2021, only a few weeks after Agnes Tirop, Kenya’s long distance runner, set the women’s 10-kilometer road running record, she was stabbed to death in her home. Ibrahim Rotich, her former husband, was arrested and charged with her murder. She was the seventh of ten children and during secondary school, she was identified with the talent to make it to the top of her sport. Tirop met her future husband, Rotich, who became her coach. During the beginning of Rotich’s trial in November 2023, Tirop’s sister spoke out that Rotich had physically abused Tirop on many occasions. He denied the charges.
A year after this incident, Damaris Muthee Mutua was murdered in the same town. She was a Kenyan-born runner who competed for Bahrain. Mutua won a bronze medal at the 2010 Youth Olympics. Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations reported that the cause of death was strangulation.
Kenya’s Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, spoke on the need to “combat gender-based violence” and how female victims are ever-increasing in elite sports. Assaults have become a critical concern for women in Kenya. According to a national survey, in 2022 around 34 percent of women said they were the victims of physical violence. This attack is only the most recent in a cycle of domestic abuse cases against female athletes in the nation.
