Mexico City [Mexico], November 6 (ANI): Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum is pressing charges against a man who she said was “drunk” and harassed her on Tuesday, calling the incident “an assault on all women,” CNN reported.
The man was arrested overnight, according to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, and is in custody at the Sex Crimes Investigation Unit.
The incident occurred on Tuesday when a man broke through a crowd of people greeting Sheinbaum in Mexico City and appeared to grope her, according to viral footage of the event. The video showed the man approach Sheinbaum, touch her breast, and attempt to kiss her while bystanders in the central neighborhood of Zocalo watched. The encounter ended when one of her top aides, Juan Jose Ramirez Mendoza, intervened, CNN reported.
The episode has sparked outrage online and renewed a debate over harassment and the safety of women in public life. Mexico City police said preliminary findings link the suspect to the alleged harassment of two other women that same day. CNN is attempting to determine whether the man has legal representation for comment.
Sheinbaum, who is Mexico’s first female president, announced on Wednesday that she was motivated to take legal action against the man, who she described as “completely drunk.”
“I decided to press charges because this is something I experienced as a woman — something all women in our country experience,” she said. “No man has the right to violate that space,” she added, as per CNN.
Sheinbaum also noted that this was not the first time she had experienced harassment. Throughout her career, she has been candid about the harassment she faced in the past. In 2021, while serving as Mexico City mayor, she shared a video for International Women’s Day recalling being harassed on public transportation at age 12 and later by a professor when she was a student. (ANI)
