Indian actress Poonam Pandey has sparked debate after faking her death.

On Friday, Poonam’s official Instagram account released a statement saying that the 32-year-old actress died after a brave fight against cervical cancer.

Many trusted the post: news outlets reported her death within minutes and social media was full of tributes.

A day later, the actress posted a video saying that she had “faked her demise” and that it was all part of a social media campaign to create awareness about cervical cancer.

Since then, there has been furious debate on the ethical issues surrounding online publicity campaigns.

She has stood by the stunt, saying “Suddenly we all are talking about cervical cancer, aren’t we?”.

Poonam Pandey has a few films and TV shows under her belt, but  became an online sensation due to her controversial posts and publicity campaigns.

BBC News says in 2011, she promised to strip naked if the Indian cricket team won the World Cup, though she didn’t stick to it.