Brazilian Model Larissa reacts after her old photo goes viral in RaGa’s ‘vote theft’ allegation
New Delhi: A Brazilian model named Larissa has reacted with disbelief after her old photograph went viral in the midst of a political controversy triggered by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of large-scale voter fraud in the Haryana Assembly elections.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had engaged in electoral malpractice, claiming that the same woman’s photograph appeared multiple times on voter lists across different polling booths. Displaying the image on screen with the caption “Yeh kaun hai?”, he said the woman was a Brazilian model whose picture had been used to cast fake votes in Haryana.
However, an investigation by India TV found that the photograph shown by Gandhi originated from Unsplash, a popular platform for royalty-free stock images. The picture, of a woman wearing a blue denim jacket, was credited to photographer Matheus Ferrero and had been downloaded over four lakh times and viewed nearly sixty lakh times.
While the image was widely circulated, the model’s name was initially unknown. Following the viral controversy, the woman in the photograph was identified as Larissa, a Brazilian model. Reacting in Portuguese through a video, she expressed astonishment over her old photo resurfacing in Indian politics.
Laughing off the situation, Larissa said the picture was outdated taken during her youth and wondered why it was being used in election-related disputes. She also mentioned that a reporter had contacted her through Instagram for an interview about the matter. “It’s absurd and unexpected,” she remarked, reacting to the viral political storm around her image.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission dismissed Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, stating that Congress polling agents were present at every booth and that no objections were raised during voting. The Commission added that all due procedures were followed and that any grievances should be submitted through formal channels.
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Woman duped of Rs 25 lakh in fake Canada visa scam; 1 held
Shimla (PTI): A woman has been arrested from Punjab for allegedly duping another woman of Rs 25 lakhs by promising her to arrange a visa for Canada, police said on Monday.
The accused has been identified as Manju Kumari, a resident of Punjab.
Senior Superintendent of Police SSP Shimla Gaurav Singh said that Manju had contacted the woman several months ago and had promised her to arrange a visa for Canada.
"After this, she asked for money for the same from the victim, which she transferred to her on multiple occasions. However, as time went by, Manju started to make various excuses and ignored her calls," the SSP said.
Upon suspecting being defrauded, the victim's brother registered a complaint, and a case was registered under sections 318 (4) (cheating), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 352 (2) (intentional insults designed to provoke a breach of peace) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the SSP said.
"Police teams were sent to Haryana and Punjab, but she kept evading arrest as she kept changing her locations as well as her mobile numbers. However, the police teams successfully arrested her on Sunday from a flat located in Kharar in Punjab," he said.
Further investigation into the matter is underway, and the defrauded money is also being recovered, he added.
