Indian actress and model Poonam Pandey has been on the receiving end of severe criticism and trolling after she faked her death to create awareness about cervical cancer. Several social media users reprimanded her for using such a strategy.
While the trolling is yet to subside, Poonam Pandey has hit the headlines after she landed in legal trouble. A INR 100 crore defamation (USD 12 million) case has been filed against the actress and her husband, Sam Bombay, for the publicity stunt.
An FIR has been lodged with the Kanpur Police Commissioner in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh. The complaint has been filed by Faizan Ansari. The FIR mentions that he is filing a defamation claim of INR 100 crore against the actress and her husband.
Further, he requested to issue an arrest warrant against the couple and present them in the Kanpur court.
“Poonam Pandey and her husband Sam Bombay both conspired to fake her death. At the same time, a big joke has been made about a disease like cancer. Poonam Pandey created this game for her own publicity and has played with the trust of crores of Indians as well as the entire Bollywood industry,” stated the FIR.
Cervical cancer ‘claims’ Poonam Pandey
On February 2, Pandey’s team claimed she died on Thursday night at the age of 32.
“This morning is a tough one for us. Deeply saddened to inform you that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer. Every living form that ever came in contact with her was met with pure love and kindness. In this time of grief, we would request for privacy while we remember her fondly for all that we shared.”
The news started trending in the country as condolences started to pour in. Later, on Saturday, she shared a video on her Instagram and revealed that it was a stunt, and she is alive. Pandey said she wanted to raise awareness about cervical cancer through the stunt.
(The article is published under a mutual content partnership arrangement between The Free Press Journal and Connected to India)