Mumbai: Bollywood actor and model Poonam Pandey is apparently still alive, and the statement earlier shared on her Instagram account claiming she had died from Cervical Cancer is false.
On Friday 2 February, a post from her official account, which has more than 1.3 million followers, said she had died from cervical cancer at the age of 32.
Later, the news of “death” was also confirmed by Pandey’s manager Nikita Sharma.
Poonam Pandey has now shared a series of posts and videos announcing that she is, in fact, not dead, and that the report was a publicity stunt to raise awareness of Cervical Cancer.
“I feel compelled to share something significant with you all, I am here, alive,” she wrote, alongside a video of her addressing the stunt and the awareness campaign.
Poonam Pandey said, “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.
She claimed, unlike some other cancers, Cervical Cancer is totally preventable, and 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,” she said.
Poonam Pandey cited a recent Union Budget drawing awareness to the lack of uptake for cervical cancer screenings.
Even if Poonam Pandey’s news of death was for a noble cause, people of all sections of life are not at all happy and accused her of “playing with death” and trying to hoodwink everyone.
