Life

Kaziah Liz Mejo, the 19-year-old from Mavelikkara in Kerala’s Alappuzha district who grew up in Abu Dhabi, has been crowned Miss Universe India 2026, securing her place at the 75th Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico this November and giving Kerala one of its most closely watched pageant wins in years. The law student and model took the national title at the grand finale in Jaipur, defeating 53 contestants from across the country in a competition that drew a jury led by former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen.

Who is Kaziah Liz Mejo?

Kaziah Liz Mejo is a 19-year-old Indian model and law student whose life has moved between two very different worlds, since she was raised largely in Abu Dhabi, moving through Emirates National School, St Joseph’s School and Abu Dhabi Indian School, while her family roots trace back to Mavelikkara in Kerala’s Alappuzha district. She is currently completing a law degree in Bengaluru alongside her modelling career, and she has spoken about how growing up in the UAE’s multicultural environment shaped the confidence and communication skills that carried her through the pageant circuit.

How did she win Miss Universe India 2026?

Kaziah’s route to the national crown ran through Miss Universe Kerala 2026, a state title she won earlier this year before advancing to the Jaipur finale, where she was named the winner from a field of 53 contestants and crowned by outgoing titleholder Manika Vishwakarma. The jury that selected her included Sushmita Sen, former Miss Universe India winners Urvashi Rautela and Celina Jaitly, Miss Universe India 2024 titleholder Rhea Singha and film producer Pragya Kapoor, giving the competition one of its most high-profile panels in recent memory.

What is her connection to the UAE?

Kaziah’s UAE upbringing is central to her story, since she spent her formative years in Abu Dhabi and has credited that multicultural environment with shaping her outlook long before she stepped onto a pageant stage, and she has previously spoken about the challenges of navigating teenage insecurity and body-image pressure amplified by filtered images online, framing her confidence as something she built deliberately rather than something handed to her.

What was her pageant journey before Miss Universe India?

Kaziah’s pageant career began with the Miss Teen Diva title in 2024, and she built on that the following year by representing India at Miss Teen International 2025, where she finished as first runner-up and picked up international competition experience that fed directly into her Miss Universe India run. Beyond pageantry, she is a trained classical dancer with twelve years of study behind her, and her creative interests extend to singing, playing the drums and violin, and acting, including a debut appearance in the Malayalam film Shylock.

Who else won at the Miss Universe India 2026 finale?

Alongside Kaziah’s win, Vaishnavi Ganesh of Tamil Nadu was named first runner-up and will represent India at Miss International 2026, while Anushri Satavlekar of Gujarat placed second runner-up and Tejaswini Shrivastava of Maharashtra and Anubha Vashisth Chaudhary of Uttarakhand rounded out the top five as third and fourth runner-up respectively. Kaziah now shifts her focus to Puerto Rico, where she will represent India at the Miss Universe pageant this November.

Kaziah Liz Mejo’s pageant journey, in order

2024 — Wins the Miss Teen Diva title, launching her competitive pageant career
2025 — Represents India at Miss Teen International, finishes first runner-up
2026 — Wins the Miss Universe Kerala state title
2026 — Crowned Miss Universe India 2026 at the grand finale in Jaipur
November 2026 — Set to represent India at Miss Universe in Puerto Rico

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Images: Supplied & Feature Image: Instagram