An Indian
medical student was crowned Miss World at a glitzy event in a Chine
se resort on
Saturday, making her country the joint-most successful in the beauty pageant's
history.
Manushi
Chhillar is the sixth Indian winner of the long-running contest, following in
the footsteps of Bollywood actresses Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai.
Miss
World 2016 Stephanie Del Valle (top) comforts an emotional Miss India Manushi
Chhilar after she won the 67th Miss World contest final in Sanya on the
tropical Chinese island of Hainan on November 18, 2017. AFP PHOTO /
Nicolas ASFOURI
Her win
brings India level with Venezuela as the countries with most victories in the
history of the pageant, now in its 67th edition.
Chhillar,
20, is a trained Indian classical dancer who also enjoys painting and hopes to
open a chain of non-profit hospitals in rural areas, according to the Miss
World website.
"Thank
you, everyone, for your constant love, support," and prayers she wrote on
Twitter. "This one's for India."
Chhillar's victory rapidly became a top trending topic on the social
media platform in India after the announcement, with Manohar Lal Khattar -- the
minister of her home state of Haryana -- among the first to offer
congratulations.
Chhillar was handed the crown by last year's winner, Stephanie del
Valle of Puerto Rico, at the ceremony in the Chinese coastal city of Sanya on
Saturday night.
Stephanie Hill of England and Andrea Meza of Mexico finished as
runners-up.
Saturday marked the Miss World pageant's return to Sanya, on southern
China's Hainan Island, for a seventh time, where the event was last held in
2015.
At the previous occasion two years ago, controversy erupted as
officials in Hong Kong stopped Miss Canada, Anastasia Lin, from boarding a
plane bound for Sanya, telling her she would not receive a visa.
The 25-year old actress claimed the decision was due to her stance on
China's human rights record, including its persecution of Falun Gong, a Chinese
spiritual group of which she is a practitioner.
At last year's event in the United States, Lin was again embroiled in
controversy when pageant officials reportedly warned her against speaking to
the press for three weeks about human rights abuses in China.
Miss Lin did not participate in this year's event, with Canada
represented instead by Cynthia Menard, a high school student.
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