Dance with a snake cost her

Colombo (AFP) – A Sri Lankan court has fined a 19-year-old contestant in a beauty pageant for animal cruelty after she danced on stage with an endangered snake species, an official said on Wednesday.

An official from the Department of Wildlife Conservation stated that authorities have prosecuted the young woman, Methmi Hiranya, following widespread social media reaction to her performance in Colombo five months ago, during which she danced with the snake.