Athlete Rebecca Cheptegei had resisted eviction by her ex-lover Dickson Ndiema from her land in Endebes, Trans Nzoia County days before she was attacked by him.
According to Cheptegei’s sister Sarah, Ndiema asked the athlete to vacate from the land because he wanted to move in with his wife
“Cheptegei rejected the eviction plan because she is the one who bought the land but Ndiema kept on insisting that it belonged to him,” said Sarah.
She said the purchase documents are in Cheptegei’s name.
At the time she bought it, she was in a close relationship with the late Ndiema who claimed to have contributed to both the purchase and putting up the house on the land.
They later differed and parted ways but Ndiema kept on demanding that Cheptegei vacate from the land but she resisted and reported to the police about threats against her because of the plot.
The dispute over the land ended fatally after Ndiema armed with petrol in a jerican stormed the home and doused Cheptegei with the petrol then lit a fire that injured both of them.
They both died at the Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret.
Cheptegei succumbed to 80 per cent burns while Ndiema suffered 41 per cent burns.
The family of athlete Cheptegei has now altered her funeral plans due to the condition of the body.
Her father Mzee Joseph Cheptegei says the body will be removed from the Moi Referal Hospital morgue today (Friday) and not Wednesday as had been planned initially.
“We have changed the plans because the body cannot take two days out of the morgue before burial,” said Mzee Cheptegei.
A night vigil that had been planned at Endebes has been cancelled.
The body will instead be taken straight to Uganda via the Endebes home.
He spoke at the MTRH morgue where a postmortem on the body of athlete Cheptegei was done.
Mzee Cheptegei said the body of the deceased will be removed from the morgue and taken to her home in Endebes for a short stay before it’s taken to Bukwo in Uganda for burial on Saturday.
From Endebes to Bukwo is about two hours drive and Mzee Cheptegei said the body would be moved by road.
She was at the morgue along with Cheptegei’s sister Sarah Cheptegei and a cousin Michael Arap Tumbo.
The late Cheptegei was a member of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and will be accorded a military burial.
