This viral image of Indian minister Smriti Irani is edited

What’s being claimed?

An image allegedly showing Smriti Irani, the Indian Minister of Women and Child Development, dressed in a green belly dancing outfit, has circulated on social media. Numerous posts featuring the image contain sexist remarks, referring to the minister as an 'apsara' (a term in Hindi for a celestial nymph) and challenging viewers to identify her. Archived versions of these posts are available here and here.

Screenshot of the viral image circulating online. (Source: Facebook/Twitter/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the image is fake. It has been digitally altered to superimpose Irani’s face onto a dancer's body.

Here are the facts

Upon closer inspection, it's apparent that the proportion of Irani’s face and head is not consistent with the rest of the body, suggesting digital manipulation.

A reverse image search directed us to a travel website, TripAdvisor, where the original photo was found. It was captioned: “Photo: Belly Dancer on the Turkish BBQ Night” and was taken at Club Exelsior, a hotel in Marmaris, Turkey.

The original image and the manipulated version share all elements except for the face of the woman. We could establish that the photo was altered to replace the dancer's face with that of Irani and rendered in black-and-white to give it an aged appearance. While the origin and author of the photo remain unverified, it seems to have been uploaded by a hotel visitor or user, and it exists exclusively on this platform.

Comparison of the viral image with the TripAdvisor image, highlighted with yellow and red arrows. (Source: Facebook/TripAdvisor/Modified by Logically Facts)

The verdict

A photo of a belly dancer was digitally edited to include the face of Indian minister Smriti Irani. Therefore, we have marked this claim as fake,