An Indian actress sparked an online storm on Saturday after admitting on Instagram that she faked her death to raise awareness about cervical cancer.
Poonam Pandey “bravely fought the disease” and died, a statement announced on her social media on Friday.
Local media published obituaries for the 32-year-old and her Wikipedia page was updated following her apparent death, while Bollywood stars paid tribute to her.
However, some began to doubt the young woman's death, especially in light of images released four days earlier that showed her apparently in good health on board a boat in Goa.
Poonam Pandey later admitted to her 1.3 million followers that her death was fake in another video posted on Instagram.
“Yes, I faked my disappearance, that’s extreme, I know. But suddenly we're all talking about cervical cancer, aren't we? wrote Poonam Pandey. I am proud of what the announcement of my death was able to achieve.
Many Internet users criticized the young woman for wanting to draw attention to herself at all costs.
“Performing a fraudulent operation such as faking one's own death under the guise of 'awareness' is not only unethical but also manipulative,” said one netizen.
“Shame on you […] Next time no one will take your real death seriously!,” wrote another.
The young Indian began her career as a model in 2010 and quickly gained fame for her extravagance.
She had promised to strip for the Indian cricket team if they won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and then posted a video of her stripping at the Wankhede Stadium, where the final was played.
She also appeared in Bollywood films, including the 2013 erotic thriller Nasha.
According to the World Health Organization, India accounts for almost a quarter of all cervical cancer cases worldwide. NGOs are supporting a nationwide vaccination campaign against human papilloma virus (HPV) infections in young girls, which has significantly reduced the incidence of cervical cancer in other countries.