The woman whose face went viral after Rahul Gandhi’s latest Haryana election allegations isn’t a model at all — she’s a Brazilian hairdresser who posed for that photo eight years ago.
New Delhi:
The woman whose face unexpectedly became part of a major political storm in India says she’s stunned. The so-called “Brazilian model” featured in Rahul Gandhi’s recent “H-Bomb” allegations is actually a hairdresser from Brazil — and the photo that triggered the chaos was taken almost a decade ago.
Larissa Nery, the woman at the center of the viral storm, has now spoken out. In a video that’s circulating online, she laughs in disbelief at how her old picture ended up in Indian politics.
“Guys, they’re using an old photo of mine! I was maybe 18 or 20 then. I don’t even know what this is about — something with elections, voting… and in India! They’re portraying me as Indian to scam people. What madness! What craziness is this? What world are we living in?”
Larissa said journalists had started contacting her after the photo spread across social media.
“A reporter called me, wanting to know about my job, the salon, everything. Then another friend from across town sent me the same photo — I couldn’t believe it,” she said in Portuguese.
On Instagram, she later posted jokingly: “Wow, that’s crazy! I’m famous in India as the ‘mysterious Brazilian model’!”
The image — titled “woman wearing blue denim jacket” — is actually a free stock photo available on popular sites like Unsplash and Pexels. It has been downloaded more than 400,000 times. The photo was taken by Brazilian photographer Matheus Ferrero, who confirmed that Larissa was simply helping him out when they were both starting their careers.
Speaking to Brazilian news agency Aos Fatos, Ferrero said the photo’s sudden global fame turned his life upside down.
“Millions started searching for my social media profiles. Some even thought my name was the woman’s name. I had to delete my accounts. They hacked me and sent all kinds of strange messages,” he said.
The confusion began after Rahul Gandhi held a press conference alleging large-scale voter fraud in Haryana’s Rai Assembly seat. Gandhi claimed that the same woman’s face appeared 22 times in the voter list — under names like Seema, Sweety, Saraswati, Rashmi, and Vimla.
When a journalist pointed out that the woman didn’t appear to be from Haryana, Gandhi replied,
“But she votes 22 times in Haryana, and in 10 different booths. This is a centralised operation. Someone fed her details into the electoral list at the top level.”
He also questioned the Election Commission’s inaction, saying it could have removed duplicates “in a second” but didn’t — accusing it of helping the BJP.
Election Commission officials, however, pushed back, questioning why Congress polling agents failed to raise objections during voting. One source said, “If duplicates existed, Congress agents could have flagged them on the spot.”
Meanwhile, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju dismissed Gandhi’s claims altogether, calling them “fake issues.”
“Polling is happening in Bihar, yet he’s talking about Haryana. When one story fails, he just shifts to another,” Rijiju said.
What began as a political accusation in India has now become a surreal international meme — leaving a Brazilian hairdresser wondering how a photo from her youth could spiral into global controversy.
“I just helped a friend take a picture years ago,” Larissa said. “Now I’m suddenly ‘famous in India’. What madness, indeed.”
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