The High Court of Bangladesh has ruled that women cannot be forced to wear the burqa or the niqab.
This follows a similar but more limited ruling in August that women could not be forced to wear the burqa at work, schools or colleges.
Correspondents say the move is the latest sign of the judiciary’s support for the Sheikh Haseena’s regime’s attempts to pursue a more secular agenda.
The governing Awami League prides itself on its secular credentials.
It says that it wants to challenge the power of “Islamists”.
The court ruled that “secularism is one of the four principles of the constitution… and no-one can be forced to wear religious attire in the secular state”.
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