Protesters drag Bolivian Mayor through streets, forcefully cut her hair

Patricia Arce, mayor of Vinto, a city of 60000 in central Bolivia, has been attacked on Thursday by opposition protesters who dragged her through the streets barefoot, covered her in red paint and forcibly cut her hair, as weeks of violent political unrest continued to plague the South American nation.

This incident is the latest in a series of violent clashes between government supporters and opponents in the wake of controversial presidential elections.

Moreover, the protestors made her sign an improvised resignation letter.

The demonstrators had accused Patricia Arce, the mayor of Vinto in Bolivia, of orchestrating a pro-government mob that tried to break up an anti-government blockade on Wednesday, a clash that caused the death of an anti-government protester, The New York Times reported

When word spread that at least one person, a 20-year-old man, had been pummeled to death, the angry anti-government protestors marched to the town hall to seek revenge on the mayor.

Earlier on Wednesday, clashes broke out between the supporters of Bolivian President Evo Morales and the anti-government demonstrators who blocked a bridge in Vinto as a part of their ongoing protest following the presidential election on October 20.

Condemning the attack on Arce, Morales tweeted: "All my solidarity with our sister, mayor of Vento, Patricia Arce, who was kidnapped and cruelly harassed for expressing and defending her ideals and the principles of the poorest."

Protests erupted in Bolivia after Morales declared himself as the outright winner of the presidential election. However, opponents alleged that the election was marred by fraud.

( With inputs from ANI )