Poonam Pandey planned death stunt for months, but not for cancer cause

When actor-model Poonam Pandey resurfaced on Saturday to reveal that she staged her fake death to raise awareness for cervical cancer, she emphasised that the stunt was a serious act of advocacy for the greater good. However, evidence suggests otherwise.

Pandey, known for her work in erotica, was declared dead on her official Instagram account in a post that appeared to have been shared by her family and friends on Friday. Around 24 hours later, she released a video to announce that she was still “alive” and directed her audience to her new website, www.poonampandeyisalive.com, which she claimed was launched to bring



“#DeathToCervicalCancer”.

She linked her campaign with a recent announcement by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding a cervical cancer vaccination programme. Nonetheless, a closer look at the domain registration records reveals that the website was registered on July 18, 2023, indicating that she might have been planning a death hoax for months -- not essentially related to cervical cancer.

An analysis of hundreds of social media posts reveals that Pandey -- whose acting career still struggles to take off, 11 years after she made her Bollywood debut with the film Nasha -- never talked about health in general, let alone cervical cancer in the last one year.