Kaziah Liz Mejo, a law student from Kerala, was crowned Miss Universe India 2026 on Sunday night at the pageant's national finale in Jaipur. The teenager topped a field of 52 other contestants to take home the crown, which was handed to her by outgoing titleholder Manika Vishwakarma, Miss Universe India 2025. With the win, Mejo now earns the right to represent India at the 75th Miss Universe pageant, set to be held in Puerto Rico this coming November.
Kaziah, who is presently studying law in Bengaluru, was born and raised in the Mavelikkara, Kerala. In addition to her education, she has worked as a model and received training in classical dance.
Last year, she participated in Miss Teen International. In barely a year, she went from competing in a teen pageant to winning India's largest title in the Miss Universe circuit. For a 19-year-old, organisers and commentators alike are calling it a remarkable jump.
In interviews following her win, she's opened up about years of struggling with self-image and confidence — at one point saying she went years without keeping a single unfiltered photo of herself because of how self-conscious she felt.
She says she got past it by deliberately leaning into a "fake it till you make it" approach — pushing herself into uncomfortable situations again and again until confidence stopped feeling like an act and started feeling real.
Kaziah's real test is still ahead. She will be training to compete against titleholders from all over the world as she represents India in Miss Universe 2026 in Puerto Rico from now until November. Expectations for Kaziah will probably rise as the pageant draws near because India has a solid recent record at the international competition, most notably Harnaaz Sandhu's victory in 2021.
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