Photo of 5-year-old Nigerian girl slammed as ‘child abuse’

A five-year-old Nigerian’s girl’s arresting beauty has caught the attention of the world. However, as much as she’s now being dubbed the “most beautiful,”, many have slammed her rise in popularity and deemed it a form of “child abuse.”

Jare Ijalana is a five-year-old girl who gained popularity after a photographer posted photos of her, impressed by her tremendous beauty. She’s now being hailed the “most beautiful girl in the world” while the photographer is being blasted for exploiting her.

Photographer Mofe Bamuyiwa said he had only good intentions sharing Jare’s beauty to the world when he posted three photos of her which he took. He thought she looked like an angel with her piercing eyes and beautiful complexion. Many who witnessed Jare’s photos that earned nearly 50,000 likes described her as a “true work of art” and “absolutely stunning”, almost “doll-like.

Bamuyiwa explained he asked Jare to pose as an adult so her photo would be timeless. He also said he wanted everyone to see the enormous potential Jare’s beauty had.

But while Bamuyiwa’s posts gained a lot of admiration from Jare, he also drew flak for seemingly exploiting the young girl. Some considered his actions as a form of child abuse.

"This is a very cute picture, but it’s child abuse. The model is far too young for all this. We should let children be what they are, children."

"She is a very beautiful young lady, with that said let’s all remember and speak of her as a child, which she is, not an adult!!!!!"

"There is an extreme difference between a woman and a child. Calling her a woman is exploiting and sexualizing a prepubescent female child. Call it what it is. A beautiful child."

"If she’s so pretty at 5, why put on makeup!? I think she’s really pretty but I think a5 year old should be a 5 year old. If she’s a 5 yr old then DON'T PIT IN MAKEUP AND TELL ME SHE'S PRETTY!!"

"She is stunning. But seriously “...interception between childhood and adulthood”? She’s FIVE!!"

Others also observed his images have been altered making the child appear to have blue eyes.

“You can’t photoshop her face and claim that she’s the prettiest girl in the world.”

“Is this a ‘natural’ photo? It looks like it has been heavily retouched. I have seen other photographs of little Jare with her sisters, they are beautiful little girls, they absolutely don’t need any retouching! “

The other girls the fan was referring to were Jare’s older sisters who were also potential models. Jomi, 7 and Joba, 10 also posed for Bamuyiwa’s photos.

Jare’s popularity is synonymous to Anastasia Knyazeva, a six-year-old from Russia who was also once hailed “the most beautiful girl in the world.”

She came after French model Thylane Blondeau, now 17, who became the first child to be hailed most beautiful when she was six. Thylane eventually became the youngest model to star in Vogue Paris when she was only 10 in 2011. Her shoot became controversial when she was asked to wear heavy makeup and adult clothing. She’s now modeling for IMG and is a brand ambassador for L’Oreal.

Meanwhile, blue-eyed African-American twins Megan and Morgan Boyd were only four years old when their photos led them to become the "world's most beautiful twins" three years ago. Their unique colored eyes matched with their dark skin was a rare combination that made them so special. While Megan's eyes were both blue, Morgan had one blue eye and one brown. It was a condition called heterochromia which some of their relatives also had. The twins were a natural in front of the cameras and had a passion for modeling that was further fed by their popularity.