Reigning Miss Malaysia World Tatiana Kumar Nandha has been stripped of her title, due to alleged "offensive" comments made online.
The organisers of the competition announced the unprecedented move in an Instagram post on Monday (Mar 6), saying that Tatiana had breached its Code of Conduct and contract.
The 18-year-old French-Malaysian model was crowned Miss Malaysia World in August last year. She represented Malaysia in the international finals of Miss World in Maryland, US, in December.
Previous first-runner-up Shweta Sekhon, 19, will be crowned Miss Malaysia World in Tatiana's place, National Director for Miss Malaysia World 2016 Anna Lin added in the post.
Lin reportedly told The Star Online that Tatiana and her family had made several offensive posts on both the Internet and social media regarding the Miss Malaysia World organisation. “There are certain formalities, and she has also breached one involving an important sponsor. This has led to the contract being terminated,” added Lin, who the news portal said was speaking from London.
The Star also reported that Tatiana’s father, Kumar Nandha, confirmed that she had been served a legal letter about the termination through email last Friday. However, he insisted that she had done nothing wrong.