KUALA LUMPUR: A British backpacker who caused uproar in Malaysia by stripping on top of a mountain has spoken of her relief as she flew back to the UK after being deported.
Eleanor Hawkins, a 23-year-old aeronautical engineering graduate, was due to arrive at Heathrow in the early hours of Sunday morning, having flown in from the Borneo coast via Kuala Lumpur.
"I'm looking forward to getting home," she said on Saturday night, awaiting her connecting flight in the Malaysian capital.
When asked how she felt about supposedly angering the Mountain Gods with her topless antics, she smiled and shook her head, refusing to reply.
And yet for those left behind in Borneo, there was anger that the question had not been answered, with community leaders saying that she should be immediately extradited back to Malaysia to face a native court.
Some said that a June 5 earthquake on the mountain, which killed 18 people, was because the spirits that guard the sacred hilltop were offended by their prank.
"I'm so angry they have been allowed to leave," said Nor Azlan, the mountain guide who led with the tourists. "They should be sent back to Malaysia."
Daikin Anam, the 32-year-old park ranger who made the initial police complaint, agreed, saying he was "disappointed" that they had been freed. "It's not right," he said. "They got off too lightly."
He echoed the call for the four to be sent back to face the native court.
"They should have made a public apology," he said. "They should have been brave, and faced the people of Sabah.
"They should have been as brave in court as they were on top of the mountain."