- She died at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret where she was admitted to the ICU.
- The burns damaged most of her organs.
Image: HANDOUT
The United Nations Population Fund has condemned the murder of Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei.
She died at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret where she was admitted to the ICU.
Cheptegei sustained 80 per cent burn injuries after her alleged boyfriend doused her body with petrol and set her on fire.
The burns damaged most of her organs.
In a statement, UNFPA executive director Natalia Kanem said Rebecca’s death brings into light the violence that women around the world face by those they truly trust.
“We mourn her passing and extend our condolence to family and friends," she said.
"More than half of all femicides are committed by intimate partners or other family members. A woman is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes, according to 2023 global estimates on femicide, though real incidence rates are likely to be far higher."
Kanem said globally, despite a drop in the overall number of homicides, incidents of femicide are the highest on record, with 89,000 women and girls intentionally killed in 2022.
"One of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world, gender-based violence knows no social, economic or national boundaries. It undermines the health, dignity, security and autonomy of survivors," she said.
"Global action is urgently needed to protect women and girls from this violence. They need peace in their homes and their communities."
According to Kanem, the governments need to provide better support for survivors, by ensuring accessible shelters, health services and robust legal frameworks to hold perpetrators to account.
"We need to see far more consistent data gathering to measure the scale of the problem. It’s time for men and boys to step up, to defy the destructive stereotypes that normalize violence, and take action to end it," she said.
"We need to address the root causes of violence, including harmful cultural norms and the sense of entitlement over women’s bodies that drives these murders in the first place."