We had reported the violence in advance, but the authorities did nothing

The father of murdered Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei says there had been reports of an increase in violence between the athlete and her estranged lover long before Sunday's tragic events that left the athlete dead.

Cheptegei died on Thursday in a hospital in the city of Eldoret in Kenya's North Rift Valley. She succumbed to burns after her boyfriend allegedly doused her with petrol and set her on fire on Sunday following a domestic dispute.

Joshua told Telecomasia.net outside the hospital after learning of her daughter’s death

We reported these incidents to the authorities several times, but they did nothing. There were several incidents of violence between them and we wanted him to leave our girl alone. She traveled to Uganda, but the man followed her anyway. I believe if the authorities had done something, I would still have my daughter.

According to the doctors treating her, Rebecca died of multiple organ failure as she suffered 70 percent burns. Her boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema, is also in the same hospital as he also suffered burns in the incident.