Ugandan Olympic Athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei finally buried

Thousands of mourners in Uganda paid their tribute to Rebecca Cheptegei, an Olympic athlete who died in Kenya last week after being set on fire by her former boyfriend.

A military funeral took place in a remote village near the Kenyan border.

Military officials took an active role in the funeral since Cheptegei was a sergeant in Uganda’s army, according to military spokesman who added that she deserved a “gun salute that befits her rank.”

Athletes, family members and others delivered their eulogies before thousands in a sports field in the district of Bukwo.

Cheptegei died after her body suffered 80% burns in the attack by Dickson Ndiema, a former boyfriend who doused her in gasoline at her home in western Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia County on September 3rd.

Ndiema also sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed to his injuries.

According to a report filed by the local chief, they quarreled over a piece of land the athlete bought in Kenya.

The horrific gasoline attack shocked many and strengthened calls for the protection of female runners facing exploitation and abuse in the East African country.

Cheptegei’s body was returned to Uganda in a sober procession following a street march by dozens of activists in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret who demanded an end to physical violence against female athletes.

Cheptegei is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in a worrying pattern of gender-based violence in recent years. Kenya’s high rates of violence against women have prompted several marches this year.