Outrage and sorrow greeted the death on Thursday of Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who succumbed to severe burns after allegedly being doused with petrol and set on fire by her boyfriend.

It was the latest horrific act of gender-based violence in the East African country, where activists have warned of a rising femicide epidemic.

The 33-year-old long distance runner died around 5:30 a.m., the doctor treating her at a hospital in Eldoret in western Kenya told reporters.