A worrying pattern has emerged giving some perspective on why there has been a rise of cases of femicide, particularly among female athletes.
As recently as in September 2024, the country grappled with the sad demise of promising athlete Rebecca Cheptegei, who passed away after her lover doused her with a flammable substance before setting her ablaze.
Sadly, the only unique aspect of Cheptegei's case was the manner in which she was killed. Otherwise, incidents of female athletes losing their lives at the hands of someone close to them are at an all-time high, to the point it sparked a direct response from President William Ruto.
Diving deeper into the recent trends of athletes' deaths will open up a devastating trend, as the athletes always lose their lives at the hands of their so-called partners.
In 2021, Agnes Tirop was stabbed to death with her husband Ibrahim Rotich a key suspect in the case, which is still ongoing. That same month, Edith Muthoni was also killed and her husband was charged in connection with her death.
Similarly, Damaris Muthee Mutua, who represented Bahrain despite being born in Kenya, was strangled in April 2022. Her boyfriend at the time, Eskinder Folie, was named as the chief suspect by police.
A common theme in these athletes' deaths is the fact that they met an untimely death at the hands of their partners. Also, in the months leading up to their murders, there was an element of a financial dispute between the athletes and their lovers.
Interestingly, nearly all of the relatives of female athletes who were killed by their partners attested to noticing the athletes getting into relationships just as they started experiencing monetary success on the tracks.
According to Janeth Jepkosgei, a former 800m world champion and Olympic silver medallist, these men attach themselves to female athletes whom they see potential, and eventually become part of their success.
This inevitably leaves the rising female athletes at a disavantage, as some of these men eventually gain some degree of control over the stars, and their finances.
“It’s no longer safe for any athlete, actually, especially when they’re starting a relationship. We feel scared as women," Jepkosgei observed.
Other athletes have attested to being privy to individuals in the greater Iten region, who actively seek out female athletes with the hopes of eventually fending off their success in the event they become national or world stars.
Because a majority of athletes come from poor backgrounds, it leaves them more vulnerable to being taken advantage of by men, who initially masquerade as individuals looking out for their success.
In the case of the late Cheptegei, for example, her boyfriend Dickson Ndiema Marangach initially presented himself as a coach, whilst he was a motorbike operator.
