A senior Indian politician has been caught on camera slapping a young woman for seeing a Muslim man.

Sangeeta Varshney, the leader of BJP Mahila Morcha, slapped the 18-year-old twice while asking her: “Don’t you have any shame, do you think you’re that grown up? Can you not even understand who is a Hindu and who Muslim?” The incident happened in Algiarh, India, on Tuesday.

According to the The Times of India, the politician shamed the Hindu girl for being “seen in public” with a man of a different faith and resorted to violence when the girl refused to let Ms Varshney call her parents.

Ms Varshney was unbothered by the incident and admitted to the newspaper that she would do it again if necessary.

“They are not to be trusted,” she said. Adding: “Everyone knows the consequences of such relations.”

The couple have reportedly experienced other forms of harassment for their relationship, including being brought to the police station for drinking tea together.

The young girl’s father was eventually reached but he decided not to press charges against Ms Varshney, the newspaper reported.

“I am a very poor person and I don’t want to get involved in any kind of controversy. I have already apologised to everyone and don’t want to pursue the matter. I was not aware of my daughter’s relationship with the man,” he said.