In a period like this, catcalling or street harassment has become a common offence against women. On July 8, a video went viral where a Samajwadi Party woman worker’s sari was hauled by two men from a rival party after nominations were filed for local polls in Uttar Pradesh on July 10. This happened at Lakhimpur Kheri, around 130 km from Lucknow.
The woman was a proposer for a Samajwadi Party candidate in block panchayat polls, and the incident took place while she was trying to enter a nomination centre. Reportedly, they also snatched the candidate’s nomination papers to stop her from filing them in time.
As per the statement by the police, the men were trying to ensure their candidate would be elected unopposed. Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the attackers were BJP workers and, sharing the video in a tweet, called them “power hungry goons of Yogi Adityanath (Chief Minister).”
Reportedly, more than a dozen places reported clashes as nominations for 825 block pramukhs, or local panchayat heads, were being filled for vote on Saturday.
