Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was groped by a man while walking through the historic centre of Mexico City on Wednesday, authorities and local media reported.

Video footage shows the man approaching the president from the side, putting his arm around her and attempting to kiss her.

He then appears to try to grab her breasts from behind before being pushed away by an officer.

The man was arrested, the newspaper El Universal reported. Prosecutors have charged him with sexual harassment and sexual abuse.

The incident raised questions about security, as the man appeared to approach the president with ease.

Like her predecessor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum does not use the military unit normally assigned to protect the president.

“If they touch the president, they touch all of us,” Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada wrote on the social media platform X. “Today, when the president is harassed just for being a woman, we are all harassed.”

Ms Sheinbaum, 63, is Mexico’s first female president.

According to a survey by the National Statistics Institute, nearly half of all women in Mexico have experienced sexual violence at least once; strengthening women’s rights is a central priority for the left-wing politician. 

(dpa/NAN)