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NAIROBI — Kenya’s athletics neighborhood is grappling with instances of home violence towards feminine athletes. Current deaths and accidents by the hands of abusive companions have amplified calls for for justice, and requires authorities to curb the worrying development.
Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, this week succumbed to accidents sustained after her former boyfriend allegedly doused her in petrol and set her on hearth. The incident came about at her dwelling in Endebess, western Kenya. Her alleged killer, a Kenyan man referred to as Dickson Ndiema Marangach, was taken to hospital with burns from the incident. He’s but to face prison fees.
In response to Cheptegei’s household, she had been troubled for months earlier than her loss of life. They blamed the police for failing to take motion early, saying they filed a report when Ndiema adopted her on a visit to Uganda.
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Cheptegei’s tragedy was the most recent in a rising listing of lethal instances of home violence towards feminine athletes within the nation. In October 2021, star distance runner Agnes Tirop was killed in Iten, a high-altitude athletics coaching hub in western Kenya. She broke the world 10 kilometer girls’s report only a month earlier than her loss of life. Her husband Ibrahim Rotich was finally arrested and charged with homicide. The case is but to be concluded, with Rotich out on bail since November final 12 months.
Simply six months after Tirop’s loss of life, one other grotesque loss of life rocked the athletics neighborhood. Kenyan-born runner Damaris Muthee, who competed for Bahrain, was discovered useless in a home in Iten after being strangled. Police launched a manhunt for her alleged killer, her Ethiopian associate Eskinder Hailemariam Folie, who allegedly fled together with her ID and financial institution paperwork.
Different Kenyan feminine runners, together with Ruth Bosibori and Joan Chelimo, have come out publicly to disclose that they escaped abusive relationships.
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The monetary success of high girls athletes on the world stage makes them particularly weak to abusive companions trying to management their funds, careers and belongings, consultants have warned.
“Some companions need to be answerable for athletes’ winnings, sponsorships, the place they go and what they do, and this entitlement causes conflicts,” Nairobi-based psychologist Millicent Gathoni advised Semafor Africa. She pressured that sports activities federations wanted to supply related assist to athletes to assist them higher navigate their careers.
Regardless of these murders of feminine athletes in Kenya in recent times, not a single conviction has up to now been secured towards the killers. Securing justice for harmless victims of home violence is vital to curbing this tragic development.
Nevertheless it’s additionally vital to notice this isn’t nearly athletics or jealousy over funds. It’s a a lot deeper, troubling problem in Kenyan society. The nation has been fighting a broader femicide downside over the previous 12 months after quite a lot of excessive profile experiences of brutal murders. In January, hundreds of Kenyan girls took to the streets in “#EndFemicideKE” protests following a number of reported instances of younger girls being killed by their companions.
Kenya’s sports activities cupboard secretary Kipchumba Murkomen warned of the worrying development in a press release issued after Cheptegei’s loss of life. “This tragedy is a stark reminder that we should do extra to fight gender-based violence in our society, which in recent times has reared its ugly head in elite sporting circles,” he mentioned.