BUKWO, Uganda: Ugandans on Saturday paid tributes to Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her partner set her on fire in Kenya, ahead of her funeral in her family village.
The 33-year-old, who debuted this summer in the women´s marathon at the Paris Olympics, succumbed to severe burns last week after being attacked by Kenyan Dickson Ndiema Marangach.
The brutal assault shocked the East African region and prompted a global outpouring of tributes, with activists condemning another act of gender-based violence in Kenya.
On Saturday morning, residents, officials and relatives waited in the cold morning light to pay their respects in the village of Bukwo, some 380 kilometres (240 miles) northeast of Uganda´s capital Kampala.
“We are extremely saddened,” said her estranged husband Simon Ayeko, with whom she had two daughters.
“As a father it has been very difficult,” he told AFP, explaining he had not been able to break the news to their children. “Slowly we will tell them the truth.” The service to honour Cheptegei, a sergeant in the Uganda Peoples´ Defence Forces (UPDF), started around 10:00 am (0700 GMT), with officials and relatives gathering at the local council office.
The coffin, swathed in the Ugandan flag, was saluted by officers from the UPDF who carried her body into the room overlooking the remote rolling hills of her childhood.
The athlete was a “heroine”, local presidential representative Bessie Modest Ajilong told AFP, describing her as “out of ordinary.” “As leaders, we saw Cheptegei as an inspiration.”