After reports of her death from cervical cancer grabbed headlines and flooded social media, Model-actor Poonam Pandey announced ‘I am alive’ on February 3. She took to Instagram to share two videos. In the first one, she revealed how she pulled off this death stunt to spread awareness about cervical cancer and HPV vaccine, and in the second one, she made sure to apologise to her fans who have been hurt due to her extreme step.
Not just that, she also conducted an Instagram live session, and added that she wants to apologise to her friends and loved ones for hurting them. Revealing how she is feeling terrible and is getting an insane number of calls and messages, Poonam said, “I did not make any money out of it. It was purely for a cause. Nobody was willing to take this campaign. I know it was extreme, I sincerely apologise. I am glad that since yesterday all I am reading about is cervical cancer. My message has reached right. Every person in India is aware of cervical cancer.”
Post the news of her death spread like wildfire, celebs like Kangana Ranaut, Munawar Faruqui, Karan Kundrra and Rakhi Sawant among others offered their condolences and mourned her death.
Further stating how she did this since a lot of people in India are not aware about cervical cancer, Poonam further mentioned, “It’s a terrible feeling. I am shivering right now. My friends are very angry, and don’t know if they will even talk to me. My PR team had no clue where I was, so I went underground.”
On February 2, when Poonam's social media account released a statement on her having passed away due to cervical cancer at 32, everyone was left in a state of shock, however, several people felt it was a publicity gimmick.
