India, Dec. 22 -- Weeks after being elected back to power on the strength of the women's vote, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's shocking act of forcibly removing a woman's face covering highlighted deeply embedded misogyny.

The assault-there is no other way to describe it-happened during a government event while the woman was being handed an appointment letter as a doctor of alternative medicine (Ayush) in Patna. In the video that has since gone viral, you can see Nitish Kumar holding the letter. He gestures to the Muslim woman to remove her veil but before she can react, he leans forward and yanks it off. The men around him laugh.

Nothing can be more shocking than the assault itself. Touching a woman without her consent, leave alone...