Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei was set on fire by her boyfriend, Kenyan police say.

A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya was attacked and set on fire by her boyfriend and is being treated for burns over 75 per cent of her body, police said.

Rebecca Cheptegei, a long-distance runner who finished 44th. 2024 Paris OlympicsHe was attacked at his home in the western Trans-Nzoia county. As of Tuesday, he remained in critical condition, the BBC reported. Report,

Trans Nzoia County police commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said on Monday that Cheptegei’s boyfriend, Dickson, bought a tank of petrol and poured it over her and set her on fire during an argument on Sunday.

“He appears to be in a serious condition because of the burns and bandages on his face,” an MTRH employee told AFP, requesting anonymity as he was not allowed to speak to the media.

The police report did not mention whether Cheptegei’s children were hurt in the attack.

Endima also suffered burn injuries, and both are receiving specialised treatment at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret town.

Cheptegei’s parents said their daughter bought the land in Trans Nzoia to be close to the county’s many athletic training centres.

The report filed by the local headman said that before the fire broke out, the couple was heard quarrelling over land for building a house.

The Uganda Athletics Federation expressed regret over the incident, saying Cheptegei had “suffered serious injuries.”

“This incident happened after her Kenyan boyfriend poured petrol on her and set her on fire,” it said. Statement on social media,

Worrying trend of gender-based violence

The attack is the latest horrific incident of gender-based violence in the East African country.

A report by the Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics published in January 2023 found that 34 percent of women in Kenya have experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

It said women who are “married are more likely to be victims of violence”, and reported that 41 percent of such women reported incidents of violence, while the figure was 20 percent among unmarried women.

The attack on Kenyan-born athlete Cheptegei comes two years later. Damaris Mutua found dead In Iten, the world-renowned running hub located in the Rift Valley in the west of the country.

His death came after the record-breaking runner was murdered. Agnes TiropThe 25-year-old was stabbed to death at her home in Iten in 2021.

Tirop’s estranged husband, Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich, will stand trial for her murder in 2023. He has denied the charges. His trial is still ongoing.

AFP contributed to this report.