A 19-year-old law student from Kerala is the newest name dominating Indian search trends. Kaziah Liz Mejo was crowned Miss Universe India 2026 at the grand finale held at Zee Studios in Jaipur on Sunday, August 23.

She emerged as the winner from a field of 52 national finalists, succeeding outgoing titleholder Manika Vishwakarma, who passed on the crown during the finale. With the win, Kaziah now earns the right to represent India at the 75th Miss Universe pageant, scheduled to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, this November, The Tribune reported.

Who is Kaziah Liz Mejo

Kaziah Liz Mejo hails from Mavelikkara in Kerala, as per The Indian Express. The 19-year-old is currently a law student and has also worked as a model. She is no stranger to the pageant circuit: before her Miss Universe India win, she represented India at Miss Teen International 2025, where she finished as first runner-up.

The road to the Miss Universe India crown was a long one. Around 8,000-9,000 aspirants were considered nationally for this edition, organisers said, before being whittled down to a final 52 through state pageants, auditions, and the wildcard and NRI categories, as per The Tribune. Finalists then went through a series of events in the run-up to the finale, including introduction and speech rounds, a gala evening and a swimsuit round.

At the finale itself, Tamil Nadu’s Vaishnavi Gannesh was named first runner-up and also crowned Miss International India 2026, while Gujarat’s Anushri Satavlekar finished second runner-up.

Maharashtra’s Tejaswini Shrivastava and Uttarakhand’s Anubha Vashisth were named third and fourth runners-up, respectively. The judging panel included Bollywood actor and India’s first Miss Universe, Sushmita Sen, along with former titleholders Urvashi Rautela and Rhea Singha. The Miss Universe India pageant has been run by the Glamanand Group since 2024, with Rhea Singha and Manika Vishwakarma winning the previous two editions.

From self-doubt to the crown, and a Google Trends surge

Kaziah’s personal story has added to the hype around her beyond the victory itself. She told The New Indian Express in an interview before winning Miss Universe Kerala earlier this year that she struggled with body image and confidence for years, and said, “For years, I didn’t have a single unfiltered picture of myself”.

She said she eventually adopted a “fake-it-till-you-make-it” approach, pushing herself into uncomfortable situations until confidence became a habit rather than an act.

That backstory, paired with the scale of her win, has driven a sharp spike in online interest. Kaziah Liz Mejo’s name shot up on Google Trends, logging over 5,000 searches and registering a 300 percent rise in search volume within hours of her crowning. She’s currently one of the most-searched names in the country.

For now, the celebrations are just getting started, but the real work lies ahead. Kaziah will spend the coming weeks in training and preparation before she heads to Puerto Rico, where she’ll compete against delegates from across the world for the Miss Universe 2026 crown — carrying India’s hopes with her.