Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling party of “vote chori” in Haryana. During his press conference titled ‘H Files’, he showed a photo of a woman he claimed appeared 22 times in the state’s voter rolls under different names — Seema, Sweety, and Saraswati.

“Who is this lady? What is her name? Where does she come from? But she votes 22 times in Haryana, at 10 different booths, and has multiple names,” Rahul Gandhi said while showing the image.

He alleged that the picture proved large-scale election fraud that cost Congress the 2024 Haryana assembly election. Gandhi called it a “centralised operation” to manipulate poll results and said the image appeared repeatedly in the voter list of the Rai assembly seat.

Image Linked to Brazilian Photographer

Gandhi said the image could be traced to “Matheus Ferrero,” a Brazilian photographer. A Google search confirmed that Ferrero’s work, including fashion portraits, is available online on Unsplash.

After the press conference, people began searching the internet to identify the woman.

The Model’s Shocked Reaction

Hours later, a woman identifying herself as the one in the photo posted a video reacting to the news. A reverse image search identified her as Larissa Nery, a Brazilian model.

In her video, Larissa said the image shown by Rahul Gandhi was taken when she was “about 20 years old.” She spoke in Portuguese, but AI-generated translations revealed her surprise.

“Folks, let me tell you the gossip. You’re laughing too much, aren’t you? They are using an old photo of mine. I was very young in the photo — about 18 or 20 years old,” she said.

She added, “They are using a photo of mine to run, I don’t know if it’s an election, something where you have to vote. And in India, they are portraying me as an Indian woman to scam others.”

“What Madness Is This?” Says Larissa

Clearly shocked by the incident, Larissa said she received calls from reporters after the controversy spread. “Oh my god, how crazy. What madness is this, what world are we living in,” she said.

She revealed that a journalist even contacted the salon where she works. “Then a reporter called me wanting to know about this thing. He called the salon where I work, wanting to talk to me for an interview. I didn’t answer. The guy found my Instagram and called me there,” she said.

Larissa added that she received the viral image from a friend in another city. Her video and screenshots quickly went viral online.

Background of the Photo

Online searches showed that Larissa’s picture was one of many portraits clicked by Brazilian photographer Matheus Ferrero. The viral image, originally part of a fashion photoshoot, was allegedly misused in Indian voter lists.