Less than a month ago, Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei finished 44th in the 2024 Paris Olympic marathon, and today the sports world mourns her death at the hands of her partner. The marathon runner died from burns covering 80% of her body after being assaulted by her boyfriend, who last Sunday doused her with a can of gasoline and set her on fire during a domestic argument.
The news was confirmed by Ugandan Olympic Committee President Donald Rukare, who added: “We strongly condemn violence against women. This was a cowardly and senseless act that took the life of a great athlete. Her legacy will continue to live on.”
This is yet another case of femicide globally. According to research by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women published at the end of 2023, nearly 89,000 women were intentionally killed worldwide in the year 2022. The UN report notes that 55% (48,800) of all femicides were committed by family members or partners. For the first time since the UNODC began publishing regional estimates in 2013, Africa surpassed Asia in 2022, becoming the region with the highest number of women killed, reaching 20,000.
The femicide of marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, killed in Kenya by her Kenyan boyfriend, sadly confirms this alarming trend highlighted by the UN study.
