Afghan star burns controversial dress

An Afghan singer and television personality has publicly burned a skin-coloured dress after religious figures and members of the public criticised her for wearing it during a recent concert.

Aryana Sayeed uploaded a video to her Facebook page, showing the contentious outfit going up in flames after it caused uproar in her native Afghanistan.

The controversial tight dress, which she wore at a concert in Paris on 13 May, sparked condemnation from religious figures and on social media, with several people saying it was against Afghan culture and non-Islamic.

She was certainly not pleased to be burning the dress, telling her more than 1.6m followers "If you think that the only problem in Afghanistan is this dress, I will set this on fire today because of you."

Ms Sayeed is well known in Afghanistan as a singer, songwriter and TV personality who sings pop, hip-hop and Afghan songs. She's also a judge on the Afghan version of The Voice talent show, which is aired by Kabul-based Tolo TV.

Opinion in regard to her actions is split on social media. Many agreed that the outfit's fiery end was justified. "We Muslims know that nakedness of a woman is prohibited in Islam and this is a mistake. Alas to us!" one Facebook user said.

However, she did find support among fans, with one saying "She should have burnt the dirty mouth of the people who unfairly criticised her. Burning the dress was not good work."

Ms Sayeed remains defiant. "It should be noted that the reason for this action of mine is not the pressure of those who still live in dark ages, but to raise further awareness of important issues within our society," she told her social media followers.

Reporting by Alistair Coleman

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