British tourist Eleanor Hawkins arrested for naked photo on top of Malaysian mountain
A British woman who has been arrested in Malaysia for posing naked on top of a sacred mountain has been named as Eleanor Hawkins.
The 24-year-old Southampton University graduate from Derby was detained on Tuesday at Tawau airport in Malaysia, as she was flying out from the island of Borneo to the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Three others were also arrested on Tuesday after handing themselves in: 23-year-old Canadian Lindsey Peterson and his sister Danielle, 22, and a 23-year-old Dutch man, Dylan Thomas.
Another Canadian, 33-year-old Emil Kaminski - thought to be the leader of the group - was arrested on Wednesday. The rest of the group of ten were being sought by Malaysian police.
All five are being held in Malaysia, and facing obscenity charges which carry a possible sentence of three months in prison. They could also be hauled before a traditional court - the Native Court of Appeal, in the province of Sabah.
"To appease the mountain protector, the ten western tourists who stripped and urinated on Mount Kinabalu should be fined 10 head of buffalo, according to local customs," said Tindarama Aman Sirom Simbuna, a local elder.
The saga began on May 30 when the group climbed to the top of 13,435-foot Mount Kinabalu in Borneo and posed for photos naked.
When their local guide tried to stop them, the group called the guide stupid and told him to go to hell, said Jamili Nais, director of Sabah parks.
The photos caused an outcry in Malaysia, because the mountain is seen as sacred. A June 5 earthquake, which killed 18 climbers, was even blamed by some on the mountain being "angry" at the insult from the Westerners.
(continued, clearly a case of manslaughter...)
