Last month, Olympic enthusiasts got to see Ugandan champion Rebecca Cheptegei compete in the women’s marathon at the Paris Games. Last Thursday, however, they were shocked and saddened to learn that she tragically lost her life in a horrific act of domestic violence.
Per authorities in north-west Kenya, the 33-year-old distance runner was in critical condition for four days after she was doused in gasoline and set on fire after returning from church with her two young daughters. She suffered burns over 80% of her body before fatally succumbing to her injuries. Her alleged killer, a Kenyan man called Dickson Ndiema Marangach, was also hospitalized with burns from the incident and died on Monday night, per Sky Sports. He was Cheptegei’s ex-boyfriend.
The police have confirmed that an investigation was underway, although Marangach was never brought up on any charges. A local administrator recently filed a report stating that Cheptegei and Marangach had been arguing over a piece of land: she is originally from a region neighboring Uganda and purchased a plot and built a house in Trans Nzoia county so she could be closer to Kenya’s elite athletics training centers.
According to Cheptegei’s family, she had been troubled by Marangach for months before her death. They believe that the police didn’t do enough to help, even when they reported that he stalked her during a trip to Uganda.
Cheptegei’s tragedy is a heartbreaking example of a growing number of domestic violence cases involving female athletes in a region that has seen many Olympic and world champions. In October 2021, Agnes Tirop, a well-known distance runner, was tragically killed in Iten, a renowned athletics training hub in western Kenya. Just a month before her death, Tirop had broken the world record for the 10-kilometer women’s race. Her husband, Ibrahim Rotich, was arrested and charged with her murder, but the case is still ongoing and Rotich has been out on bail since November of last year.
Just six months after Tirop’s death, another shocking incident occurred within the athletics community when Kenyan-born runner Damaris Muthee – she competed for Bahrain – was found dead in a house (also in Iten) by strangulation. Law enforcement initiated a manhunt for her alleged killer, who was identified as her Ethiopian partner Eskinder Hailemariam Folie. Still, it was reported that he fled with important personal documents belonging to Muthee.
Recently, Ruth Bosibori and Joan Chelimo, two professional Kenyan female runners, have spoken up about escaping abusive relationships.
Experts have warned that top women athletes on the world stage face a unique vulnerability to abusive partners who seek to control their finances, careers, and assets. Nairobi-based psychologist Millicent Gathoni explains that “Some partners want to take charge of athletes’ winnings, sponsorships, and even control where they go and what they do,” she tells Semafor. “This sense of entitlement often leads to conflicts.”
Gathoni has also emphasized the need for sports federations to provide relevant support to athletes and help them navigate their careers more effectively.
“It’s devastating on so many levels,” Hayat Bearat, a visiting associate professor of law and the interim director of the Domestic Violence Institute at Northeastern University tells Northeastern Global News. “It really goes to show how (domestic violence) affects every single person. Even an Olympic athlete can lose their life as a result of domestic violence.”
Kenya’s athletics community is grappling with cases of domestic violence against female athletes, but sadly, it illustrates a wide-ranging, dire problem: the increase in killings of women and girls worldwide, also known as femicide.
Africa now has the highest number of gender-related killings in the world. According to a report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, there were at least 20,000 victims in 2022. Asia had the second highest number of female intimate partner and family-related killings, with an estimated 18,400 victims, followed by America with 7,900 and Europe with 2,300 in that same period.
Cultural norms play a significant role in the prevalence of gender-based violence. In many areas, women and girls are viewed as disposable, and leaders often downplay the issue. These crimes are considered the most significant violation of women’s human rights worldwide, but they are particularly widespread in places where there are no laws criminalizing these specific acts. For example, some African and Asian countries still allow practices like “honor killings” and marital rape, and these laws may protect family members who harm their female relatives. And even if these laws are eventually abolished, the mindset behind them continues to persist.
“There’s these societal justifications for these actions,” Bearat said. “In order for it to end, there needs to be … the legal framework that exists and there needs to be societal norms. If the laws say you can’t do this, but the societal norms state that you still do XYZ, then the laws only go so far.”
Authorities have highlighted that this harrowing trend isn’t just limited to sports or jealousy over money. It signifies a deeper issue. In Kenya, for example, there have been numerous cases of young women being brutally murdered by their partners in recent years, but not a single conviction has been made against these killers so far. In January, thousands of Kenyan women took to the streets in protests called “#EndFemicideKE,” demanding justice for victims and an end to the violence. Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya’s sports cabinet secretary, emphasized the gravity of the crisis in a statement following Cheptegei’s passing. “This tragedy is a stark reminder that we must do more to combat gender-based violence in our society, which in recent years has reared its ugly head in elite sporting circles,” he said.
Amnesty International Kenya also said that Cheptegei’s death “highlights the urgent need to address femicide” in the country.
Still, Bearat points out that an even greater challenge is when authorities wait until a physical act of violence happens before taking action. Sadly, by then, it’s usually too late. It’s important to tackle reports before things escalate to that point.
“It’s a big problem across the world,” she says. “I can speak from experience working here in the United States, where survivors will contact the police and nothing is done or the police might say ‘Wait until they actually do something.’”
“A number of times, I’ve had clients say, ‘So, they basically want to wait for me to die for them to act.’ This really resonates with a case like this.”
How to Help Combat Femicide
Global Database on Violence against Women: An online resource from UN Women that provides information on government actions to address violence against women.
Global Rights for Women: A nonprofit organization that provides tools, resources, and training to advocates, legal professionals, and community members.
Femicide Watch Initiative: U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences
UNODC Global Resource on Femicide: A resource on femicide.
Femicide Census: A resource for information on femicide in the UK.
Voices Against Violence curriculum: A curriculum from the United Nations that can help educate young people about the root causes of femicide.
Women’s Microfinance Initiative: An economic empowerment program that can help drive change in communities that subjugate women.
