The choice of top model and actress Poonam Pandey, who made it known that she had died following uterine cancer, only to then reveal that it was a stunt as part of a campaign to raise awareness about prevention with PAP test.
Poonam Pandey bravely fought the disease and passed away,” said the announcement posted on her Instagram account on Friday. The news had sparked a wave of condolences among her followers (over 1.3 million), hundreds of heartfelt messages from Bollywood stars, while the entry dedicated to her on Wikipedia was also updated. Over the weekend, Pandey turned up alive and justified her shocking choice by inviting all women to have a Pap test. However, her social media users rebelled, with many accusing her of wanting to advertise with an “unethical” choice and of having treated death superficially. Uterine cancer is the second most frequent among Indians after breast cancer, and causes the death of 77,000 women every year.