Magistrates in the city of Leicester in England ordered a pregnant Muslim woman to remove her veil while she gave evidence against her violent ex-partner。
The case at Leicester Magistrates Court on Thursday was held up for over an hour while magistrates agreed to hear her evidence from behind a screen. One of the magistrates told her: "We need to see a person's facial expressions to assess the evidence they are giving." Georgina Richards, 36, initially refused for religious reasons but reluctantly agreed when she was told that her evidence would possibly not be accepted if her "facial expressions" were not visible。
But after the hearing, she said: "I was a bit unhappy that he told me to take my veil off. But I thought the case would be dropped if I didn't take it off. It just made me feel uncomfortable. They wanted to see the expression on my face but I don't think it really matters, I think I could have done it with my veil on."
The magistrates heard that her husband attacked Miss Richards, mother to three of the couple's children and eight months pregnant with their fourth, between April 1 and April 30. He was found guilty of punching Miss Richards in the face and scrawling abuse on her front door。
The magistrates warned the husband was facing jail and sentencing was deferred until October 20 to allow a probation report to be produced。
The wearing of Islamic dress has become increasingly controversial in recent years。
Jack Straw, a former home secretary, foreign secretary and justice secretary, was criticised in 2006 after requesting that women lift their veil at his surgeries in his Blackburn constituency。