Poonam Pandey called out for faking her death: 'Absolutely Shameful'

Poonam Pandey has been severely criticised for faking her death in order to raise awareness about cervical cancer. 

On February 2, the internet sensation left the world in shock with a fake statement about her death.

However, Poonam released a long video statement on her Instagram on Saturday, February 3, revealing that she is alive and became a part of this 'public stunt' as it helped raise awareness about the fatal disease. 

The 'insensitive' move by the model received a strong backlash from netizens and several public figures.

Renowned actress/filmmaker Pooja Bhatt dubbed Poonam's fake death stunt 'disgraceful.'

She wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, "I never delete tweets but did so in the case where I expressed my shock at news of Poonam Pandey’s demise due to cervical cancer. Why? Turns out the news was engineered by a digital/PR team. Absolute disgrace & disservice to those battling the same-her included."

Indian actor Ayushmann Khurrana's wife Tahira Kashyap expressed her disbelief over how people would go this low to be in the headlines.

She wrote on her Instagram story, "Witnessed the lowest of lows today. Oscillating emotions between being triggered, angry, shocked and disbelief."

Tahira added, "What are we becoming? How important is breaking news? At what cost? So put off by the cheap publicity stunt. Not naming just because the person doesn't deserve any importance whatsoever."

Another B-town star, Sonal Chauhan slammed Poonam on X, saying, "Absolutely Shameful !!! A whole new low!!! Death is not a joke."

"Cheap and in such poor taste. One needs to draw a line somewhere."