Woman who summitted Mt Everest confirmed Nahida Manzoor used her photo

The colours and positioning are remarkably similar between the original photo of Bhawna Dehariya (left) and the allegedly morphed photo of Nahida Manzoor

Bhawna Dehriya, 27, from Madhya Pradesh, who summitted Mt Everest on May 22, confirmed that Jammu and Kashmir resident Nahida Manzoor used her photograph.

On June 30 in 'Proving that she had summited Everest turned out to be her Everest,' mid-day reported about Manzoor allegedly using morphed photos to prove her claim. Manzoor completed summiting Everest on the same day as Bhawna, although a bit later than her.

Also Read: Nepali sherpa scales Everest for 23rd time, creates world record

Shared on social media

Speaking to mid-day from Bhopal, Dehriya said, "Yes, the picture used is mine. But I do not know how this happened as I have not shared my photo with anyone. However, as soon as I returned to Kathmandu from the summit on May 27, I did upload my pictures on my social media handles. I am not sure if someone picked it up from there and edited it."

She added, "Why Nahida Manzoor picked up my photo, edited it and used it is a question only she can answer. I uploaded a lot of my summit and Everest climbing photos on my social media pages. Probably, my pictures have been picked up from there. I request her to please remove all the photos from her social media pages and not use them in the future." Dehriya also said she does not intend to take the matter up legally at this point.

Also Read: Mumbai: City mountaineer revisits near-death experience in the Everest jam

Manzoor and Dehriya are friends. They first met each other in 2018 at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarakhand. They have been in touch since and had also met in Nepal during their Everest expedition. "In Kathmandu, I remember Nahida telling me that she did summit, but could not get any pictures clicked. I assured her that so long as you know and your agency has confirmed that you have reached the summit, it is fine," she added. When mid-day reached out to Manzoor once again, she maintained that she has not tampered with the photos and that they were indeed given to her by a stranger in Kathmandu on June 12.

DOT says

Mira Acharya, director, Department of Tourism (DOT), Nepal said, "There is no mechanism as such to check if the photos are tampered or original". Acharya said DOT has asked Snowy Horizons Treks and Expeditions, the agency that gave Manzoor her climbing permit, to submit the original photos at the earliest.

Also Read: Did amateur mountaineer morph photo to prove her Everest summit?

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