Topless Tourist Accused Of Causing Malaysian Earthquake Regrets Her 'Foolish Behavior'

By R. Siva Kumar - 15 Jun '15 08:58AM

Eleanor Hawkins, the British tourist who came back from Malaysia after posing topless on a sacred mountain, apologized for her "foolish behavior", according to news.

In her home, Derbyshire, she said she is relieved and happy to return, and added: "I know how much offence we all caused to the people of Sabah and for that I'm truly sorry."

She apologised to the tribesmen who accused her of setting off a deadly earthquake by stripping and angering their gods, according to dailymail.

Prosecutors explained that the four tourists, along with six friends, climbed up to watch the sunrise on 30 May and then challenged each other to remove their clothes and pose for photographs.

Her mother, Ruth, said: "She realises what she did was wrong and disrespectful and she is deeply sorry for any offence caused to the people of Sabah. Eleanor has been appropriately and falrly judged by the Malaysian authorities and has served her sentence in full and the case is now closed."

Eleanor's father Timothy too had previously agreed that his daughter's sentence had been "appropriate" and "fair".

She is a 23-year-old aeronautical engineering graduate, and earlier at a Malaysian court on Friday had pleaded guilty to taking her clothes off on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo, on 30 May.

With Canadians Danielle and Lindsey Petersen and Dutchman Dylan Snel, she had been sentenced to three days in jail and fined £1,000 on Friday.

They had all agreed that they were guilty of "committing an obscene act in a public place to the annoyance of others".

However, they had been in custody for three days while waiting for their court appearance, so they were asked to go out of Malaysia at once.

The group had allegedly been making a lot of noise and some had even urinated in a pond, giving offence to the elders in the area.

Many Malaysians, including officials, had blamed their indecent acts for creating a 6.0 magnitude earthquake, killing 18 and leaving hundreds stranded.

Even some photographs of the topless tourists were put up on the internet, which made many Malaysians angry, as the World Heritage Site was considered sacred.