Husband of murdered Kenyan distance star Agnes Tirop missing

The husband of slain Kenyan distance runner Agnes Tirop, who was out on bail charged with her 2021 murder, has gone missing, his lawyer told AFP on Friday.

Ibrahim Rotich, 45, was due to appear in court in Eldoret in western Kenya on Thursday, but his lawyer Ngigi Mbugua told the presiding judge that he could not be found or reached by phone.

Stabbed to death

Tirop, who was hailed as one of Kenya’s most promising new track stars, was stabbed to death at the age of 25 in October 2021 in an incident that shocked the athletics world.

It came only a few days after she broke the women’s 10k world record in Germany.

She was also a double world 10 000m bronze medallist and 2015 world cross country champion who also finished fourth in the 5 000m at the Tokyo Olympics.

Rotich denied killing Agnes Tirop, whose body was found at her home in the athletics training hub of Iten in western Kenya.

Kenya has witnessed a number of deaths and killings of prominent athletes in recent years.

Ugandan long-distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei was murdered by her boyfriend last year – the third female athlete to be killed in Kenya since 2021.

Rotich’s lawyer said his family was worried over the disappearance.

“Rotich’s sister Winrose… said they have not been able to trace him since and they were worried about his safety,” Mbugua told AFP.

Rotich was released on bail in November 2023 after being in custody for two years.

Under the bail conditions, he was barred from leaving his home county of Uasin Gishu, of which Eldoret is the main town.

Only the guilty go missing, right … ?

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By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse