New Delhi: A video of the Brazilian model whose photo Congress MP Rahul Gandhi showed at his press conference on Wednesday has surfaced. Several accounts on the social media platform X posted the video of the woman, claiming her name was Larissa.
In the video, the woman, speaking in Portuguese, says, “Guys, let me tell you a joke. This is terrible! My photo is being used to vote in India. People are fighting among themselves, claiming I’m Indian. Look, what madness! I’ve never even been to India.”
Rahul Gandhi alleged at a press conference at the Congress office on Wednesday that 2.5 million votes were stolen in the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections. Showing a photo of a girl wearing a blue denim jacket, Rahul questioned what role a Brazilian model plays in Haryana’s voter list.
He said, “A Brazilian model cast 22 votes at 10 booths in Haryana, sometimes under the names Seema, sometimes Sweety, sometimes Saraswati.” Rahul did not reveal the Brazilian model’s name. However, the image is available for free download on stock photography websites like Unsplash and Pexels.
This photo has been downloaded more than 400,000 times from both websites. The photo was first published on March 2, 2017. The woman’s name is not listed on these websites, but the photographer is Matheus Ferrero, who lives in the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte.
Larissa said – I was 18-20 years old, the picture was taken then
Larissa said, “That photo is from my early modeling days, when I was 18-20 years old. It was purchased from a stock image platform and used without my permission. I am no longer a model. They are claiming I am Indian to deceive people. I have nothing to do with Indian politics.”
According to the claim, Larissa stated in the video that a reporter had contacted her on Instagram for an interview. Dainik Bhaskar does not confirm Larissa’s video. Bhaskar attempted to locate Larissa’s social media accounts, but could not find her profile.
Photographer deletes Instagram account
Brazilian news agency Aos Fatos also spoke with Matheus Ferrero, the photographer who took Larissa’s photo. He explained that after Rahul Gandhi’s claim, millions of social media users began searching her social media profiles, forcing her to delete her Instagram account.
The photographer said that many people, seeing the presentation, mistook Matheus Ferrero for the model’s name. He said, “People literally hacked all my accounts. A lot of strange people were saying all sorts of things. People probably didn’t realize the photo was downloaded from a free platform.”