Following widespread criticism, Jannatul Nayeem Avril was stripped of the title of "Miss World Bangladesh 2017" as she had "hid information relating to her marital status".

The announcement was made at a press conference at a city hotel yesterday, five days after the 27-year-old contestant was controversially crowned in the competition's final round.

Now Jessia Islam, the first runner-up, will represent the country in the 67th Miss World contest, to be held in November at Sanya, China, said the judges and the beauty pageant's organiser, Antar Showbiz, at the conference.

They said they took the decision to rescind Jannatul's title as she hid information about her previous marriage.

Miss World competitions around the world have a rule stipulating that contestants are “not be married nor have ever been married or have children,” according to the rules published by various editions of the competition.

The controversy over the issue began moments after Jannatul, hailing from Chittagong, was announced Miss World Bangladesh 2017. Some of the judges soon told the media that she was not even among the finalists, creating a firestorm of criticism in social media.

According to various media reports Jannatul Nayeem got married on March 21, 2013 and the couple parted ways two and a half months later.