In recent days, a curious and unexpected story has captured attention across two continents, involving a Brazilian hairdresser named Larissa Nery and allegations of election fraud in India. Larissa, who lives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, found herself at the center of a political controversy thousands of miles away, despite having never set foot in India. The incident began when her photograph, taken years ago by a Brazilian photographer, was used as purported evidence in an Indian political dispute, thrusting her into an international spotlight she neither sought nor expected.
Larissa Nery, 29, is a professional hairdresser who was surprised to discover her image being circulated widely in Indian media and social networks. Initially, when friends and strangers began tagging her on Instagram and sending messages, she assumed it was a case of mistaken identity or a prank. “At first it was a few random messages. I thought they were mistaking me for someone else,” she told the BBC. However, the situation quickly escalated when she received a video displaying her face on a large screen during a press conference in India, making it clear that her image was being used for political purposes. “I thought it was AI or some joke. But then lots of people started messaging at the same time and I realised it was real.”
To understand the bizarre turn of events, Larissa searched online and learned that her photograph had become entangled in a serious accusation of electoral fraud in the Indian state of Haryana. The controversy stemmed from a press conference held by Rahul Gandhi, a prominent opposition leader in India. Gandhi accused the ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Election Commission of India of manipulating voter lists to influence the outcome of last year’s state election. Specifically, he alleged that millions of irregular voters were listed, including duplicate entries and voters with invalid addresses. According to Gandhi, this manipulation led to his party’s defeat in Haryana.
To support his claims, Gandhi presented slides during the press conference, one of which showed a large image of Larissa Nery’s face alongside multiple voter entries bearing different names but the same photograph. He described the image as a stock photo of a woman who supposedly appeared under various identities, such as Seema, Sweety, and Saraswati, and claimed that this “model” was voting multiple times in Haryana. The photograph in question was actually taken by a Brazilian photographer, Matheus Ferrero, in 2017, and featured a young Larissa, then 21, standing outside her home in Belo Horizonte. Larissa confirmed to the BBC that it was indeed her in the photo, which was taken during a casual photoshoot when the photographer thought she looked “pretty” and asked to capture her images.
Larissa stressed that she is not a model but a hairdresser, and that the photo was originally shared online with her consent. However, the sudden and unexpected use of her image in a political scandal has caused her considerable distress. Since the story broke, she has been inundated with messages, many from journalists in India, which has disrupted her life and work. “I became scared. I cannot tell if it is dangerous for me or if speaking about it could harm someone there,” she said. The constant attention forced her to remove her workplace’s name from her social media profile to protect her job, and her employer even addressed the issue due to the disturbances. Larissa described the situation as “affecting me professionally,” with some people treating the incident as a joke or meme, while she experiences real anxiety.
The photographer behind the image, Matheus Ferrero, also found himself overwhelmed by the international attention. Until recently, India was known to him only through a Brazilian TV show called “Caminho das Índias.” He recounted that about a week before the press conference, he started receiving messages from India asking about the woman in the photo. Initially skeptical, he ignored and blocked these contacts, suspecting a scam. But after Rahul Gandhi’s allegations became public, the volume of messages and calls surged dramatically. Matheus deactivated his Instagram to manage the situation and only then understood the full scope of what was happening.
Matheus explained that the original photo shoot took place in 2017 when he was just beginning his photography career. He invited Larissa, whom he knew personally, to model for some pictures, which he then uploaded to social media and freely shared on Unsplash, a website offering free stock images. The particular image