Not new to controversies, Poonam Pandey once promised to strip if India won the World Cup

Actress-model Poonam Pandey has recently garnered attention, but this time, not for good reasons. Yesterday, her team made a startling announcement on her social media platform, stating that she had succumbed to cervical cancer. The revelation left many in shock, yet scepticism arose as there was a notable absence of concrete evidence validating her demise.

In a surprising turn of events, Poonam Pandey herself refuted the circulating death rumours today, asserting that she is very much alive. She clarified that the earlier announcement was an attempt to raise awareness about cervical cancer. However, this clarification was met with backlash from netizens, who criticized her for orchestrating what they perceived as a fake death.

This is not the first instance of Poonam Pandey resorting to what some label as a 'publicity stunt.' In 2011, she gained online attention by promising to strip naked if the Indian cricket team won the ICC World Cup under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Although Team India emerged victorious, Poonam did not fulfil her promise, later attributing the entire episode to being a "publicity stunt" in a 2015 interview with Mint. Given this history, netizens displayed visible apprehension regarding the authenticity of the actress's reported death, drawing parallels to previous instances.