The prime suspect in the gruesome murder of 25-year-old world 5,000m record holder Agnes Tirop was arrested this morning in Changamwe while trying to escape to a neighbouring country.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), they have been trailing Ibrahim Rotich, who was in a relationship with the athlete. The suspect is being held at the Changamwe Police station for grilling by detectives before being arraigned to answer to murder charges,” read an excerpt of the DCI statement.
Related : Agnes Tirop laid to rest in Kapnyamisa village
Tirop was found stabbed to death on Thursday 12th October at her home in Iten, with police treating her “husband” as main suspect. She won the 10km long distance world record on September 11, 2021 in Herzogenaurach, Germany with a time of 30 minutes and one second, finishing ahead of Sheila Chepkirui and shaving 28 seconds off the record previously set by Morocco’s Asmae Leghzaoui 19 years ago.
PResident Uhuru Kenyatta expressed his horror at the murder of an athlete he called a hero. “It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we’ve lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, had brought our country so much glory,” he said. The President said It was painful that Agnes, a Kenyan hero by all measures, painfully lost her young life through a criminal act perpetrated by selfish and cowardly person.
