Ugandan athlete Rebeca Cheptegei’s former partner, Dickson Ndiema, who was accused of setting the Olympian ablaze, has passed away at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
Hospital officials confirmed that Ndiema died on Monday night while receiving treatment in the ICU, per Kenya's The Star website.
His death comes just days after Cheptegei herself passed away at the same hospital, following a horrific incident in Trans Nzoia where Ndiema attacked her.
He's alleged to have doused Cheptegei with petrol and set her on fire, which resulted in both of them sustaining severe burns—Cheptegei with over 80 percent burns and Ndiema with more than 30 percent.
Cheptegei, a member of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), will be laid to rest on Saturday in Uganda with full military honours on September 14.
Her father, Mzee Joseph Cheptegei, confirmed that both the Kenyan and Ugandan governments are coordinating to ensure she receives a fitting farewell at Bukwo, located in Eastern Uganda.
A postmortem is scheduled to be conducted on Cheptegei’s body at the hospital on Wednesday.
Mzee Cheptegei as quoted by The Star, explained that the family agreed to the procedure, saying, “It will help us understand what led to her death and provide some closure as we mourn.”
Following the postmortem, Cheptegei’s body will be released from the morgue on Thursday morning and handed over to her family and the UPDF. The body will then be escorted to her home in Endebes, Trans Nzoia, where a night vigil will be held, allowing local residents to pay their last respects.
On Friday, her body will be transported by road to Bukwo in Uganda for another overnight vigil ahead of the burial on Saturday. Senior officials from both Kenya and Uganda are expected to attend the funeral.
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