A disturbing incident from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, has sparked outrage all over after murals showing women in yogasanas were defaced with inappropriate marks. The murals, which were painted as part of a public beautification drive, had been deliberately vandalised around the private areas of the female silhouettes, distorting their shape and making them look obscene.
A video of the defaced wall went viral on social media, with several users taking to the platforms to express strong reactions over the act that was described as an attack on women's dignity and public property.
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Social media reactions call act ‘shameful’
Several users on X (formerly Twitter) condemned the vandalism, questioning the effectiveness of city surveillance and law enforcement. One user wrote, “Smart City's claim, shameful reality. Targeting and damaging murals of women doing yoga is not just vandalism, it is a serious case of disrespect to public property and to women. The question is clear, when will the law wake up and when will action be taken against the culprits? #Gwalior #GwaliorSmartCity”
Another post read, “What is the cure for this mentality? This is a road in Gwalior city, It is extremely shameful, disgraceful, and deeply disappointing that even a woman's painting is not safe from these sick minds.”
One user wrote, “sick mentality”, while another commented, “Sick mentality in men and women is too aggressive and common in Hindi belt than anywhere in country.”
The incident has once again reignited discussions around women’s safety, public morality, and accountability in urban spaces.
Follow-up video shows attempt to restore mural
In another video posted by independent journalist Piyush Rai, one can see a young boy retouching the deliberately scratched parts around the private areas of the mural. While the boy was trying to restore the mural so that it looked decent, many people on social networking websites appreciated his efforts, while others again reacted angrily towards the vandalism incident.
Click here to watch the video.
This is not the first incident of this kind. In 2018, a similar incident came to light in West Bengal. In this incident, the silhouette artwork of a woman had been defaced with signatures near the breasts and reproductive parts. In this incident, a Facebook user named shared the images of the defaced stencil artwork. He wrote: “If we can’t save a stencil from being sexualised, we can’t save anyone!”
