“I feel compelled to share something significant with you all – I am here, alive.”
Actress Poonam Pandey is facing backlash after faking her own death and coming back to Instagram two days later. Her ‘death from cervical cancer’ made headlines around the world earlier this week because of her young age and sudden ‘passing’. However, the Indian star has admitted she faked her own death in what she says to raise awareness for the disease.
On February 2, a post on Pandey’s social media profile told followers she had died from cervical cancer, and also asked for privacy for the family as they dealt with their ‘grief’. The post was liked more than 300,000 times and appeared in hundreds of news stories.
The initial post read: “This morning is a tough one for us. Deeply saddened to inform you that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer. Every living form that ever came in contact with her was met with pure love and kindness.
“In this dime of grief, we would request for privacy while we remember her fondly for all that we shared”.
The 32-year-old celebrity captioned the post with a prayer and red heart emoji, as thousands flocked to send their condolences after believing she had died.
However, it was less than two days later when she reappeared with a video explaining she hadn’t died at all.
She told followers: “I feel compelled to share something significant with you all – I am here, alive. Cervical Cancer didn’t claim me, but tragically, it has claimed the lives of thousands of women who stemmed from a lack of knowledge on how to tackle this disease.
“Unlike some other cancers, Cervical Cancer is entirely preventable. The key lies in the HPV vaccine and early detection tests. We have the means to ensure no one loses their life to this disease.
“Let’s empower one another with critical awareness and ensure every woman is informed about the steps to take. Visit the link in the bio to delve deeper into what can be done.
“Together, let’s strive to put an end to the devastating impact of the disease and bring #DeathToCervicalCancer.”
But she has now faced backlash for what fans say is the “worst publicity stunt ever”.
One person wrote: “Highly not appreciated.”
Another said: “Worst PR Stunt, you could have done a better way, than highlighting such a sensitive topic for so many cancer patients.”
It caused the model to defend her actions, which she said was a campaign she began working on four months ago with the agency Schbang.
“While I do understand how you would have perceived this in bad taste, I also implore you to consider the greater cause,” she added in a new post on Saturday.
“I want to assure you that this intervention was necessary. The deliberate effort made sure ‘Cervical Cancer’ got attached to 500 headlines in the same day and if that’s the kind of impact we can bring in a day, imagine what all we can do if we decided to come together and speak up.”
She explained in another post her mother was diagnosed with throat cancer and understands how “bad” it gets for sufferers and loved ones.
Pandey clarified no one was paid to take part in the health campaign.
Schbang also responded to the criticism and apologized to any person who was affected by it.
They said: “Our actions were driven by a singular mission – to elevate awareness about Cervical Cancer.
“In 2022, India registered 123,907 Cervical Cancer cases and 77,348 deaths. After Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer is the second-most frequent malignancy affecting middle-aged women in India.”
They defended Pandey faking her own death and said it made ‘cervical cancer’ the most searched topic on Google that day, claiming it was in 1000+ headlines.
