(Clockwise from above) Daily Mail front page, Daily Star front page, The Sun front page and Daily Mirror front page.
KUCHING: The arrest of alleged Mount Kinabalu nudist Eleanor Hawkins yesterday received sensationalised treatment from British tabloids with catchy headings linking the act to the June 5 earthquake.
This was despite the fact that Hawkins and three others were only remanded under Section 294 (a) of the Penal Code for indecent exposure, which could land them with a three-month jail sentence.
The front page of Daily Mirror, reputed as United Kingdom’s best selling daily tabloid, carried a headline that read ‘Nude student faces jail for causing deadly quake’ and an image of a sombre Hawkins.
On the other hand, The Daily Star’s front-page’s headline was ‘Naked Brit girl caused killer quake’ and claimed Hawkins had angered the gods.
The Sun headlined its cover report with ‘Your boobs have angered mountain gods’. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail put a blurb on its front page that read ‘British girl faces jail for stripping on sacred peak’ along with a photo of Hawkins.
The Independent also carried a report, which quoted Hawkins’ father as saying his daughter knew the act was stupid and disrespectful following a telephone conservation with her, and she was very sorry for the offence that she had caused to the Malaysian people.
Several media in Britain also reported that Hawkins recently graduated with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and was on a trip to celebrate her graduation.
The photos of these front pages, posted on social media, especially Facebook, have received mainly negative comments from Facebook users in the country, who were in agreement that these Westerners had been disrespectful of the local traditions and customs.
On May 30, a group of 10 tourists including Hawkins allegedly stripped naked and indiscriminately urinated atop Mt Kinabalu. They posed for pictures that went viral after they were posted on social media.
Apart from Hawkins, the other three remanded were a 23-year-old male and his 22-year-old sister from Canada, and a 23-year-old Dutchman.
The local Kadazan and Dusun communities believe Mount Kinabalu is the resting place for spirits of their ancestors and disrespecting the mountain will result in bad incidents.