Father of Brit woman held for stripping at Mount Kinabalu pleads for mercy

The father of a British woman nabbed for allegedly stripping on Sabah's Mount Kinabalu has appealed to the Malaysian authorities to set his daughter free.

Eleanor Hawkins, from Derby, was among four Western tourists to be detained after being accused of posing naked for a photo on Mount Kinabalu, the Independent has reported.

Tim Hawkins has urged the Malaysian authorities to offer his daughter clemency because she's pretty scared and quite upset.

Hawkins, who owns a mechanical engineering business in the village of Draycott in Derbyshire told The Telegraph that they really hope authorities don't try to make an example of her.

The four were Eleanor, a 23-year-old male and his 22-year-old sister, from Canada; and a 23-year-old Dutchman.

They were remanded until June 13 for investigations under Section 294(a) of the Penal Code for committing obscene acts in a public place. They have yet to be charged in court.

If convicted, they face a maximum three-month jail term or a fine, or both.

Police believe the other six tourists, mostly Europeans, were still in the state. On June 5, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the mountain and 18 people lost their lives.