Cheptegei's attacker hid before staging attack - father

The family of Athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has revealed further details on what transpired on the fateful day the marathoner was attacked and doused with petrol.

Her father Mzee Joseph Cheptegei said his daughter was caught by surprise during the attack that led to her death.

Mzee Cheptegei said she did not expect such to happen and that her lover Dickson Ndiema was hiding in the home to stage the attack.

“She is a military woman and if she knew in advance she would have at least defended herself,” Mzee Cheptegei said.

He spoke at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary after the family collected her body for burial.

“Her death has robbed me of my daughter on whom we all depended,” he said.

Ndiema attacked Cheptegei at home in Trans Nzoia where he doused her with petrol and set her on fire which also injured him.

Cheptegei sustained more than 80 percent burns while Ndiema sustained over 30 per cent burns.

Cheptegei will be buried on Saturday in Uganda. She will be given a military burial.

Ndiema died at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

The hospital confirmed that Ndiema died Monday night at the ICU where he had been admitted.

He died a few days after Cheptegei passed on at the same hospital.