KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Sabah’s Kota Kinabalu prison is “horrendously” overcrowded with a permanent stench of urine, a source told UK paper Daily Mail, as reports on the arrest of a British tourist who allegedly stripped naked on Mount Kinabalu continue to make headlines there.
According to the report on MailOnline, the source alleged that the women’s wing of the “hellhole” prison in Sabah was so overcrowded that Eleanor Hawkins, former head girl of a £12,000-a-year (RM70,000) private school, would have to take turns sleeping because of a shortage of mattresses should she be found guilty of public indecency.
“Last time I went there, the smell was horrible. None of the women had showered for days and you can smell urine everywhere. It’s just terrible,” the source was quoted saying.
Hawkins, 24, is one of four foreign tourists remanded for allegedly stripping on Mount Kinabalu, a site deemed sacred to locals.
The others are Canadian siblings Lindsey, 23, and Danielle Peterson, 22, as well as Dutch national Dylan Snel, 23.
UK daily The Telegraph, however, reported yesterday the Malaysian tour guide who had accompanied the group of 10 tourists who allegedly stripped naked as saying that while the men were completely nude, the women — including Hawkins — only took off their bras.
Hawkins’ father Tim told British daily The Sun yesterday that he fears his daughter and her companions may be made an example for their “stupid prank” that occurred just a week before the June 5 deadly earthquake that killed 18 climbers and guides at Mount Kinabalu.
MailOnline reported yesterday that Hawkins, former head girl at Ockbrook School in Derbyshire, is being held at a “far softer” police central lockup in Kepayan due to a request by her lawyer Ronny Cham over fears for her safety.
Sabah deputy chief minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan had blamed the earthquake on the tourists for disrespecting the “sacred” mountain.
The four tourists are being investigated under Section 294(a) of the Penal Code for public indecency, an offence that is punishable by a maximum three months’ jail term or fine or both.
