Saudi girl, 11, receives online criticism after performing onstage wearing makeup and with her hair uncovered

The girl came under fire after performing a song alongside other children last week, it has been reported

Two Saudi women wearing burkas walk on a street in the desert kingdom's capital Riyadh (Getty)

An 11-year-old girl in Saudi Arabia has been subjected to fierce criticism online after she performed onstage in front of men while wearing makeup and with her hair uncovered.

The girl came under fire in the deeply conservative Islamic state after performing a National Day song alongside other children last week, it has been reported.

She is understood to have worn a full-length green robe and red lipstick for the performance while her hair was left uncovered.

Strict Islamic dress codes in Saudi Arabia require women to dress "modestly" - usually with headscarves, veils and full-length abayas.

The girl has now been accused by Twitter users in Saudi Arabia of immodest behaviour, according to Al-Arabiya, as cited by i24news, while a professor at King Khalid University reportedly blamed her parents for her appearance.

Others however have jumped to her defence online, while Saudi actor Fayez al-Maliki told her critics to mind their own business.

The girl's father has now threatened legal action against those who used 'inappropriate words' to describe his daughter, Gulf News reported.

In August, there was outrage in the country after a female newsreader appeared on Saudi state television without a headscarf.

The unnamed anchor, who has previously worn a hijab in clips circulated online, was reading a bulletin from London for the Al Ekhbariya channel.

Saleh Al Mughailif, a spokesman for Saudi radio and television, told Al Tawasul news the correspondent was reading the news from the broadcaster's British studio.

He said: “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 promised that all measures would be taken to ensure there is no repeat of the incident after many viewers expressed outrage, Gulf News reported.