KABUL – Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has issued an order in Afghanistan which says if a woman doesn’t cover her face outside home, her father or closest male relative would be summoned and eventually incarcerated or fired from government jobs, media reports said.

At a press conference in Kabul, a spokesman for the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice read out a statement issued by the Afghan supreme leader, Khaama News reported.

This statement detailed the procedures laid down by the ministry authorities to supervise the process of mandatory hijab.

The initial stage in this procedure is to locate the residences of unveiled ladies and to counsel and warn their parents.

Next, the woman’s father or guardian is summoned to the relevant department, and in the following step, a case is lodged against the woman’s father or parents, and the person’s trial begins, Khaama News reported.

The all-encompassing blue burqa, ‘Chadari’, which became a global symbol of the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, was proposed as a suitable covering, according to the statement.

The statement also noted that if there is no important work outside, women “better stay at home”, the report said.

This measure, according to social media users, is an aggravation of escalating restrictions on women in public, and has sparked outrage from the international community as well as many Afghans.