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Dancing woman who sparked anger for climbing over ancient Mayan temple and goading locals has been identified as the 29-year-old Mexican who locals now call ‘Lady Chichen Itza’
- Mexican media identified Abigail Villalobos as the woman who ascended the steps of the Pyramid of Kukulcán in Tinum, Yucatán on Sunday
- The 29-year-old woman was held for 30 minutes at Tinum Municipal Police Station and released after paying a $257 fine
- Villalobos was caught on camera climbing up the Mayan temple and dancing on the steps before a guard managed to get her back down
- Angry visitors shouted for Villalobos to be locked up and doused her with water as she was escorted out of the Mayan ruins.
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The woman who climbed the steps of an ancient Mayan temple, enraged a crowd and went viral online has been identified by a local news outlet as Abigail Villalobos, 29, of Mexico.
Tinum Municipal Police would not confirm or deny the woman’s identity to DailyMail.com.
The woman, identified as Villalobos by Messages ZMG and Image TV, shocked visitors Sunday by walking up the steps of Castillo — or Pyramid of Kukulcán — in the Yucatán town of Tinum.
She then walked through one of the four terraces of the Chichen Itza Temple at the front of the steps and walked back out as an angry mob of people shouted obscenities at her from below as a guard pulled up the pyramid to let her down. walk.
In the video, which has been viewed more than four million times, a tourist identified by Mexican media as Abigail Villalobos appears to be asked to come down from the top of the temple by a man who has climbed a series of stairs. Downstairs, the crowd gathers around the 29-year-old and they can be seen screaming as she tries to get by
As she descended the 91 steps, Villalobos danced and appeared to pose for photos and was met by an angry mob chanting ‘prison, prison, prison’ and ‘lock her up’.
Called ‘Lady Chichen Itza’ by the locals, Villalobos was then escorted by a guard as several of her companions followed her before some of the upset visitors blocked her way. An elderly woman briefly stopped Villalobos and pulled her hair while other tourists dosed her with water.
Villalobos was taken to the Tinum Municipal Police Station and held for half an hour, but was released after paying a fine of 5,000 pesos – approximately $257.
The pyramid was built between the 8th and 12th centuries AD and served as a temple of the Kukulcan god. The substructure of the old ruin is said to have been built a few centuries earlier for the same purpose.
The Mesoamerican pyramid is 79 feet high and another 20 feet for the temple at the top. Each of the four sides of the temple has 91 steps.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) issued a statement a few hours after the video was posted on social media, noting that the monument had not been damaged.
A woman identified by the Mexican press as Abigail Villalobos was seen walking up a Mayan pyramid before being taken into custody and fined
A guard walked almost halfway up the pyramid as part of an effort to walk the woman back down before authorities arrested her and fined her before she was released
Climbing the 25-meter pyramid at the archaeological site of Chichen Itza — formerly one of the major centers of Maya civilization — has been banned since 2008.
Fines for climbing the temple can range from $2569 to $5138 depending on the damage to the structure.
Justin Bieber was evicted from an archaeological site in Tulum, Mexico, in 2016 for “pulling down his underpants and attempting to climb one of the forbidden ruins” in 2016.
Police were also called to the incident, after he stripped naked for a selfie and then shouted insults at guards who tried to stop him. He was filmed arriving at the location with his then-new girlfriend Hailey Baldwin.
Staff say he was clearly under the influence of alcohol and was initially refused entry because he was carrying beer cans, local reports said.
He waves to a camera and looks relaxed and happy as he walks onto the grounds, where he later reportedly got into a fight with the grounds staff after they tried to kick him out
Section 47 of the Federal Law on Archaeological, Artistic and Historical Monuments provides that a penalty of one to ten years in prison may be imposed if a person is held liable.
In one incident in January 2021, a woman climbed the Pyramid of Kukulcán and sparked outrage when she was caught scattering her late husband’s ashes.