Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a press conference.
Credit: Reuters Photo
In a shocking incident, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was groped by a man who also tried to kiss her as she walked between meetings in the capital city.
Sheinbaum said on Wednesday she filed a complaint against the man after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The man was arrested and identified by the authorities as 33-year-old Uriel Rivera Martínez, New York Times reported.
Sheinbaum is Mexico's first woman president and the incident has raised serious concerns over the safety of women in the country.
"If this happens to the president, where does that leave all the young women in our country," said Sheinbaum. "No man has the right to abuse women's personal space."
Video of the incident quickly ricocheted across the internet before being taken down by some accounts, underscoring for many in Mexico the insecurity women face in a country steeped in machismo and gender-based violence.
It has also raised questions about Sheinbaum's security detail. Like her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Sheinbaum travels with minimal security and makes herself widely available to the public, including wading into crowds of people.
She said on Wednesday that she did not plan to change that practice, saying "we have to be close to the people."
The incident happened on Tuesday in the capital's historic center as Sheinbaum was greeting members of the public while making the short walk from Mexico's national palace to the Ministry of Education.
The video shows a middle-aged man putting his arm around Sheinbaum, touching her chest and attempting to kiss her. She moves his hands away before a member of her staff steps between them. The president's security detail did not appear to be near her in the moment.
Sheinbaum said the man appeared to be drunk.
Sheinbaum was also agitated over the Mexican newspaper Reforma publishing images of the man groping her, saying she considered it a "re-victimization" and that it crossed an ethical line.
"The use of the image is also a crime," Sheinbaum said, pointing to legislation against digital violence. "I am waiting for an apology from the newspaper."
(With Reuters inputs)