Eleanor Hawkins And Tourist Friends Who Stripped Naked On Malaysian Mountain Must Pay A Fine Of Ten Buffalo Or Face Jail, Demands Tribal Chief

A Malaysian tribal chief has demanded that British tourist Eleanor Hawkins and her friends who stripped naked on top of a Malaysian mountain should be jailed for three months unless they can pay the fine of ten buffalo.

As demands go it’s a most peculiar one, but then the the entire tale of former British public schoolgirl Eleanor Hawkins and her tourist friends facing jail time for posing nude on Malaysia’s highest peak, “upsetting the gods,” and “causing an earthquake” which killed 18 climbers, almost seems stranger than fiction.

Now it would appear that all is standing between Eleanor and her friends spending three months in jail is 10 water buffalo! It would be funny if it wasn’t so serious.

The Daily Mail reports that Eleanor, 24, from Derby, was prevented from flying to Kuala Lumpu and detained at Sabah airport. Her crime? Posing naked on a Malaysian mountain called Mount Kinabalu.

Locals claim the sight of all that Western flesh jiggling about unfettered and unbowed angered tribal spirits and triggered a deadly earthquake which killed 18 people.

Although one might be tempted to say, “Popppycock!” It’s no laughing matter. Eleanor, an aerospace engineering student, and four other Western tourists face obscenity charges, which in Malaysia can carry a three-month prison term.

Eleanor is currently being held in a Malaysian prison alongside Canadian Lindsey Petersen, 22, his sister, Danielle, 23, Dutch man, Dylan Snel, 23 and Canadian tour guide Emil Kaminski, 33.

The five are believed to be a part of a group of ten people who posed naked on Mount Kinabalu on May 30. The Malaysian mountain is a UNESCO World Heritage site and considered sacred by Malaysia’s Kadazan Dusun tribal group, who believe it is a resting place for spirits.

After stripping off for the camera, Eleanor and her friends gave the pics the oxygen of publicity and circulated the photos far and wide on social media.

When nine Singaporeans, six Malaysians, a Filipino, a Chinese and a Japanese national were killed in an earthquake days later, Malaysian officials decided Eleanor and her friends were probably responsible.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan is convinced that the foreigners “disrespect to the sacred mountain” and the blasphemy of stripping off at its peak is a direct cause of the subsequent tragedy.

A special cleansing ritual will now be held on Mount Kinabalu to “appease the mountain spirit,” and no doubt eradicate the western taint from its lofty flanks.

Eleanor’s father, Tim Hawkins explained to the Guardian that his daughter sounds extremely frightened on the phone and he hopes the Malaysian authorities will not try to make an example of Eleanor and her friends.

“She is obviously upset. She’s pretty scared. But it was good to speak to her. I have got every faith in their judicial system. I just hope they don’t make an example of them after the tragic earthquake.”

Priest Tindarama Aman Sirom Simbuna didn’t pull any punches when asked what the price of Eleanor and friends’ liberty should be.

“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.”

Sounds like a proper bunch of bull.

(Images Via Daily Mail)