The Indian entertainment space was plunged into a shocked state yesterday morning when it was revealed that actress Poonam Pandey had passed away at the age of 32 after a battle with the dreaded cervical cancer. Condolences poured in on social media, with both celebs and common people expressing their shock and sadness upon her tragic death.
Tables have turned this morning. From sadness, the overwhelming sentiment for Poonam Pandey has turned to one of anger. The reason – it has just been revealed that Poonam Pandey’s death had been announced to create awareness for cervical cancer.
The question that takes precedence is that did Poonam Pandey’s stunt work? Did it raise awareness about cervical cancer in the common public?
The short answer is no, it did not.
Poonam Pandey, as followers of the entertainment world will know, is predominantly a soft p*rn star. The news of her death — from cervical cancer of all things — let loose a volley of snide remarks on social media. All and sundry took cheap jibes at her profession, and how her lifestyle, including supposedly multiple sexual partners, was the cause of her contracting the disease. People had a field day, passing loaded comments on Poonam Pandey and her death.
Now today, as word spread that Poonam Pandey death news was fake and only a stunt, a lot of people who were genuinely moved yesterday feel cheated — and angry. Social media is flooded with posts on how it is a tacky thing to do, how can anyone go so low, it’s an insult to cancer survivors, how could anyone take death and the sentiments associated with it so lightly, and so on and so forth.
To put it bluntly, faking one’s own death for whatever reason, is the cheapest and most poorly thought out stunt anyone could pull. Whoever thought up the stupid idea needs to be tied up and flogged in public.
Several people have commented on social media that the Indian government is behind the awareness campaign, given that the GOI had announced its push for the cervical cancer vaccine in the interim budget just a day ago.
Let us tell you that the people behind the dumb AF awareness campaign are not some government organisation or an NGO working in the field of women’s health awareness. It is lifestyle and entertainment media publication, Hauterrfly. It figures — only a publicity-hungry media outlet could pull a cheap gimmick like this.
This morning, when Poonam Pandey came on her Instagram to reveal tu that she’s alive and well, she also invited her followers to attend a question & answer session on cervical cancer on Hauterrfly this afternoon.
So much for creating awareness about a crucial, sensitive subject. Turned out, it’s all b*ll!