Faking your own death to draw attention to cancer. Inappropriate, or necessary to break a taboo? An Indian celebrity undoubtedly meant well, but now has to pay for her remarkable stunt with thousands of negative reactions. “This was perhaps a bit extreme.”
“This is a tough morning for us,” it initially sounds sad on the Instagram page of Poonam Pandey, one of India’s most famous models with 1.3 million followers. “We are heartbroken to let you know that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer. Every living soul that ever came into contact with her was received by her with pure love and kindness.’
‘I am alive’
The tone of the message is deadly serious, and so there is little reason to doubt the obituary. The country has therefore already said goodbye to the big star in a certain sense. Various newspapers published her obituary and other Indian celebrities also wrote down their grief in personal memoriams. Pandey is said to have ‘fighted cancer fiercely’, The Guardian quoted her manager as saying.
At the same time, there were also doubts surrounding her death. For example, Pandey was recently seen in good health while she was on a boat trip, among other things. There were also no signs that she had been ill for a long time. A day later the monkey came out of the sleeve. “I’m here, alive and well,” she revealed in a sensational video. “I indeed faked my death. This was a bit extreme perhaps. But we are now all talking about cervical cancer.”
Storm of criticism
Her action, although well-intentioned, has little support. The actress is accused of abusing the cancer disease to pull off a marketing stunt. Pandoom denies this and states that cancer has also affected her family. “For those who say I am insensitive: my mother also had cancer,” she writes, among other things. “This unusual turn of events serves a greater purpose. While I understand that you may see this as bad taste, I also implore you to keep the greater good in mind.”
Apart from being a reality star, Pandey is also a former Bollywood actress. She made global headlines in 2011 when she promised she would strip for the Indian cricket team if they won the Cricket World Cup. She thinks it’s fantastic that she is now ‘going international’ again. She is even ‘proud’ of her action, because there is still a lot of ignorance about cervical cancer.
Possible prosecution
That must change, Poonan believes, because this form of cancer is ‘absolutely preventable’. “We have the resources to ensure that no one loses their life due to this disease. Let’s empower each other with critical consciousness and ensure that every woman is informed about the steps she needs to take. Let us strive together to end the devastating impact of the disease and create #DeathToCervicalCancer.”
Marketing stunt or not: her campaign may have a follow-up. There are voices within politics to prosecute the woman for disrupting public order. “The news of an influencer dying of cervical cancer cannot be a tool to raise awareness,” said Satyajeet Tambe, member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, India Today reported. The All Indian Cine Workers Association, an organization that represents the interests of artists from the Indian film industry, has also filed a complaint.
Cervical cancer
Approximately 950 Dutch women get cervical cancer every year. In 2021 there were 947, D66 mapped out. That year, 213 women died from its effects. Most women who get cervical cancer are between the ages of 30 and 55. Women whose cervical cancer is detected at an early stage have a survival rate of 96 percent.
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2024-02-04 21:29:10
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