Saudi News Reader Sans Headscarf Causes Outrage

A female news reader sans a headscarf has caused outrage in Saudi Arabia. The anchor for the Al Ekhbariya channel was reading a bulletin from London, reports The Independent.

A spokesperson for Saudi radio and television broadcast told news outlets that the correspondent was reading the news from the broadcaster's British studio. "She was not in a studio inside Saudi Arabia and we do not tolerate any transgression of our values and the country's systems," he said.

Saudi Arabia has a strict dress code for women requiring them to be covered from head to toe appropriately, a headscarves and abayas are a requirement

Earlier clips of the same reader show her reading the news with her head appropriately covered.

As expected the social media was abuzz with the news. According to the media, the opinion is equally divided on it being a transgression or a show of strength leading to some progress in women's rights in the country.

In October 2013, Saudi women came out strongly against a ban on  women drivers. Sheikh Saleh Al-Loheidan said  that driving harms a woman's ovaries.

"If a woman drives a car it could have a negative physiological impact,  " he said.  But women in Saudi have been defying the ban and continue to show their discontent.

Women accused of adultery, blasphemy and apostasy are given strict punishments like lashes, hangings and beheadings in the country.

Al Ekhbariya has offices in the Middle East, Europe and America, and was the first broadcasting channel to have a female news presenter in 2004.