A ₹100 crore defamation complaint has been filed against Poonam Pandey and her spouse Sam Bombay for her staged death. According to a report, Pandey and Bombay are being accused in this case of trivialising a serious sickness and forming a “false conspiracy of death.”
Pandey’s family declared earlier this month that she had died of cervical cancer. Official confirmation of the death was lacking, though.
Poonam declared she was alive and that she wished to raise awareness about a disease that “claims the lives of thousands of women” in a video that she posted on her social media accounts the following day, on February 3.
“I feel compelled to share something significant with you all – I am here, alive. Cervical Cancer didn’t claim me, but tragically, it has claimed the lives of thousands of women who stemmed from a lack of knowledge on how to tackle this disease,” the 32-year-old actor posted on Instagram with the video.
On social media, this sparked a backlash. The scam received criticism from both celebrities and regular people, who called it “ridiculous” and “disgraceful”. These included Bipasha Basu, Nikki Tamboli, Mini Mathur and Pooja Bhatt.
The All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) also called for filing a complaint against Pandey for manipulating Indians’ emotions. Satyajeet Tambe, the Maharashtra MLC, also asked Mumbai Police to file a lawsuit against Poonam.
Subsequently, the media company Schbang, which was also a part of the staged suicide, apologised. It did, however, go on to assert that the campaign had produced excellent outcomes.
Additionally, the article stated that Pandey “orchestrated” the publicity stunt for her own benefit and “played with the trust of millions of Indians” according to the ₹100 crore defamation action.
Additionally, it asked the Commissioner of Kanpur Police to make sure Pandey and her husband show up in court.
