Bollywood actress Poonam Pandey dies of cancer at 32

The controversial Bollywood model-cum-actress Poonam Pandey succumbed to cancer at 32, her media team said on Friday.

"This morning is a tough one for us. Deeply saddened to inform you that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer. "Every living form that ever came in contact with her was met with pure love and kindness.

"In this time of grief, we would request for privacy, while we remember her fondly for all that we shared,” said a statement on Friday.

No details of Pandey’s passing, where and when, or whether any of her family members were present, are provided in the message.

As the day passed, questions began to be raised about the news that got Kangana Ranaut to take to her social media and lament the death of someone so young.

It all started with a post that appeared on Pandey's official Instagram handle announcing her death. The post took everyone by surprise because no one who knew her had any clue about her health condition.

Her last Instagram post two or three days ago, in fact, was about her holiday in Goa and the actress, whose never kept anything about her life out of the public domain, made no mention about suffering from something as serious as cervical cancer.

Actress Sambhavna Seth has gone on record saying that she met Pandey with a common friend some days back and the reality TV actress made no reference to suffering from cancer, nor did she show any signs of it.

"Just think how strong she was, she never even mentioned it," Seth told a news channel.

When IANS went to her housing society, The Park in the Oshiwara area of Mumbai, people in the neighbourhood said the actress hasn't been at her house for the last two days and no movement has been witnessed at her home.

Throughout the day, there has been no sign of any activity inside or outside her building.

A security guard at the housing society said: "She hasn't been home for two days. Her driver last went out of the building around 3:45 p.m. today (Friday)."

Reports from Pune also suggest that there is no movement in or around her home in that city.

It was then rumoured that she had gone to Kanpur where she passed away.

Poonam's publicist isn't answering phone calls after issuing the statement that she received the information about the death of the actress from a relative of hers.

The mail that carries the name of Nikita Sharma as Pandey's manager carried fake contact details that trace back to a person in West Bengal who hasn't even heard about the actress.

And as mystery blankets the whereabouts of the actress, no details are available yet about her funeral.

She was seen in Bigg Boss (2011), and then made her Bollywood debut in 2013 with the film "Nasha,” "GST — Galti Sirf Tumhari” (2017), and a few other films and television serials.

In 2011, she grabbed headlines by promising to strip for the Indian cricket team if it bagged the Cricket World Cup that year, and similar such daredevilry on various occasions.

Indo-Asian News Service