A Malaysian tribal
chief has called on Western tourists who were arrested for stripping
naked on top of a mountain to pay a fine of ten buffalo or face jail, it
has been reported.
Former British public schoolgirl Eleanor Hawkins is
among the group accused of 'upsetting the gods' by posing Nood on the
country's highest peak days before an earthquake killed 18 climbers on
the mountain. Eleanor, 24, from Derby, was detained at a Sabah airport
yesterday while trying to fly to Kuala Lumpur.
Last night it was
reported that one local tribal chief had called on the tourists to pay a
‘sogit’ or fine of ten buffalo or face jail. Priest Tindarama Aman
Sirom Simbuna said: ‘The tourists who angered the guardian of the
mountain should pay for their mistakes by giving sogit. This should be
in the form of ten male or female buffalo'. Indigenous people say Mount
Kinabalu - where the group posed for their photo - is a resting place
for the spirits of the departed. Miss Hawkins, an aerospace engineering
student, is said to be 'very upset' as she sits in a police cell in
Borneo facing obscenity charges, which can carry a three-month prison
sentence. Her father, Tim Hawkins, who runs an engineering business in
Derby, said his daughter sounded frightened when he spoke to her this
morning. He said: 'She is obviously upset. She's pretty scared.
But it was good to speak to her.' He has appealed for the Malaysian
authorities to be fair over fears they may try to make an example of
her. Others also facing same charges with her are; a Canadian, Lindsey
Petersen, 22, and his sister, Danielle, 23, and a 23-year-old Dutch man,
Dylan Snel.
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