Woman ignores scorpion stings for record attempt

A Malaysian woman who has vowed to live in a locked room with 2,000 scorpions for a month has been struck down with a fever after repeated stings by the insects.

Malena Hassan, 24, who started her confinement in a glass room with the poisonous arachnids on 1 July, told local reporters she had been stung seven times in the past nine days, the national news agency Bernama reported.

But Ms Hassan said she was determined to stay in the room for the rest of the month, the report added. She said that if she succeeded she would set a Malaysian record.

Takiyuddin Hassan, an official from the Kelantan Museum, where the glass room and Ms Hassan are being presented as a temporary exhibit, said she would be given a medical check up in the next few days. Ms Hassan sleeps, eats and performs Muslim prayers in the room, which is furnished with a bed and a table. Under self-imposed rules, she leaves the room once a day for 15 minutes.

Mr Hassan said that 17,000 people had visited the exhibit since Ms Hassan's attempt began, raising about 20,000 ringgit (nearly £4,000) for the museum. (AP)