The funeral for Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei of Uganda, who passed away in Kenya following her boyfriend’s arson, will take place in her own nation on September 14, the organizers announced on Sunday.
The 33-year-old, who took part in the women’s marathon at the Olympics in Paris last month, passed away on Thursday from serious burns, four days after being doused in gasoline and set ablaze at her western Kenyan home.
“September 14 in Kongasis sub county in Bukwo district has been designated as Rebecca Cheptegei’s burial date,” Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Uganda Olympic Committee and a member of the funeral planning committee, informed news agency AFP.
Cheptegei’s family home, Bukwo, is situated 380 kilometers northeast of Kampala, the capital of Uganda, on the Kenyan border.
In Kenya, where at least two other athletes have perished at the hands of their spouses, Cheptegei’s death was met with outrage and sadness as the most recent instance of horrifying gender-based violence.
Dickson Ndiema Marangach, Cheptegei’s Kenyan partner, who is undergoing treatment in a hospital after suffering burns, is accused by the police of carrying out the attack on Sunday of last week.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris declared on Friday that a sporting stadium would be named in honor of Cheptegei, who had participated there just a month prior.