Mexico City [Mexico], November 6 : 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 took place 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 incident.
The video showed a man approach Sheinbaum. He appeared to touch her breast, and attempt to kiss her while bystanders in the central neighbourhood of Zocalo watched. The incident ended when one of her top aides, Juan Jose Ramirez Mendoza, intervened, as per CNN.
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 individual to the alleged harassment of two other women that same day. CNN is attempting to determine if the man has legal representation to receive 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 said, as per CNN.
She added that this was not the first time she had experienced harassment. Throughout her career, Sheinbaum has been candid about the harassment she experienced in the past. In 2021, as Mexico City mayor, she shared a video for International Women's Day in which she recalls being harassed on public transportation at the age of 12 and being harassed by a professor when she was a student.
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