It began with a press conference in New Delhi on November 5, 2025—one that would ignite a storm of speculation, social media memes, and international confusion. Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader and opposition figure in India’s Lok Sabha, stood before reporters and unveiled what he called “The H files.” His central allegation: the 2024 Haryana Assembly elections had been tainted by a massive voter fraud operation, and at the heart of the evidence was a single photograph—a young woman, smiling, who, Gandhi claimed, had voted 22 times in 10 different polling booths in the Rai Assembly constituency. But the story behind this image would soon prove stranger than fiction.
According to NDTV and other prominent Indian media outlets, Gandhi asserted that the woman in the photograph was neither from Haryana nor India at all. Instead, he revealed, she was a Brazilian model. “So, last guesses, I am going to give a prize if anybody can guess this. Anybody? She is from Brazil. She is a Brazilian model. That is a stock photograph and she is one of 25 lakh such records in Haryana. This is proof of a centralised operation,” Gandhi declared, as quoted by The Hindu. He went on to allege that the Election Commission had colluded with the ruling BJP to rig the polls, citing what he said were 2.5 million fake entries in the voter rolls, each potentially as dubious as the Brazilian woman’s repeated appearances under names like Seema, Sweety, and Saraswati.
But who was this woman, and what did she make of her sudden, bizarre role in Indian electoral politics? Within hours, her image was everywhere—on WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook, accompanied by memes, jokes, and wild speculation about her identity and profession. Congress’s own social media head, Supriya Shrinate, shared a video reaction purportedly from the woman herself, now identified as Larissa Nery, a resident of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
In the video, which quickly went viral, Larissa Nery appeared genuinely bewildered. Speaking in Portuguese, she explained, “Guys, they are using an old photo of mine. It’s an old photo, okay? I was like 18 or 20 years old. I don’t know if it’s an election or something about voting… And in India. Ah! They’re portraying me as Indian to scam people, guys. What madness! What craziness is this? What world do we live in?” This quote, widely reported by NDTV and The Hindu, captured both her shock and the surreal nature of her predicament.
Larissa’s response was not just a matter of casual surprise. She revealed that she had taken the photo years earlier, not as a professional model, but as a favor for a friend who was a photographer—Matheus Ferrero. According to Aos Fatos, a Brazilian fact-checking organization, Larissa explained that she was not a model by trade and had only agreed to the photo shoot to help her friend. Ferrero, she said, had asked her permission to post the image on stock photography websites, and she had agreed, never imagining it would one day be swept up in a political scandal halfway around the world. Since then, her image has appeared in thousands of publications, used for everything from advertisements to, apparently, fraudulent voter registrations in Haryana.
As the story gained traction, Larissa’s social media presence was inundated with messages—some seeking clarification, others simply curious or amused by the viral meme she had unwittingly become. According to Factly and NDTV, she even received a call from a reporter who wanted to interview her about the incident and her work at her salon in Belo Horizonte. Initially, she thought the whole thing was some kind of bad joke, but as the scale and seriousness of the matter became clear, she admitted feeling frightened by the misuse of her image. “A reporter called me wanting to know about this whole thing, about going to the salon, my job… wanting to talk to me for an interview, I didn’t answer. The guy found me on Instagram, called me on Instagram. Now, another person who has nothing to do with the matter, a friend of mine from across the city, sends me a photo. You won’t believe it. Oh man, in the Portuguese language,” she recounted in her video, as translated and reported by Factly.
Crucially, Larissa made it clear that she had no involvement whatsoever in Indian politics. She categorically denied making any statements against Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party, as some social media posts had falsely claimed. In fact, her only concern was the unauthorized use of her likeness and the bizarre turn her life had taken. Aos Fatos quoted her as saying, “She explained that she is not a model and only posed for the photo to help a friend at the time. The photographer asked for permission to post the image on websites, she allowed it, and since then her image has been used in thousands of publications.”
Larissa’s account was verified by multiple outlets, including The News Minute, The Print, and Hindustan Times, all of which confirmed that the viral video was indeed her own reaction, posted as an Instagram story. To further validate her statements, Factly used Google’s NotebookLM tool to transcribe her Portuguese speech, finding that it matched exactly what had been reported in the media. There was no evidence of her making derogatory remarks about Indian politicians or parties—just honest confusion and a plea to be left out of the political crossfire.
The fallout from the incident has been far-reaching. The photographer, Matheus Ferrero, reportedly deleted his Instagram account after the controversy erupted, likely seeking to avoid the unwanted attention and potential legal headaches. Meanwhile, the original issue raised by Rahul Gandhi—the alleged presence of 2.5 million fake voters in Haryana—remains a subject of heated debate within Indian politics. Gandhi’s critics have accused him of sensationalism, while his supporters say the incident is emblematic of deeper problems with voter registration and election integrity in the country.
For Larissa Nery, the episode has been a crash course in the unpredictable power of the internet and the strange ways in which a simple photograph can be swept up in global events. “What madness! What craziness is this? What world do we live in?” she asked in her video—a question that, given the circumstances, seems as apt as any.
As the dust settles, the incident serves as a cautionary tale about the consequences of digital image sharing and the ways in which personal likenesses can be misused for purposes far beyond their original intent. For now, Larissa Nery hopes only to return to her quiet life in Belo Horizonte, leaving the tumult of Indian politics behind her.
