KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Local actress Raja Ilya has opened about how she has to live with the extreme side effects of getting a filler injection from a fake beauty surgeon years ago.

The revelations came following the death of a man in Teluk Intan who died after receiving a similar injection to enlarge his back muscles recently.

In light of the tragedy, Raja Ilya shared with Berita Harian that she was young and naïve when she got filler injections from 2008 to 2009.

This is after she was told that she needed to have a certain body shape criteria by a film director in India where she was auditioning at that time.

Following the hurtful remarks from the director, Ilya decided to quit and become a full-time stewardess for Malaysian Airlines (MAS) before she met a makeup artist who introduced her to the ‘doctor’.

After meeting with the fake doctor, Ilya said she spent up to RM8,000 just to get a filler injection on her hips.

"The fake doctor assured that the filler injections are completely safe, and she even shared a few photos of other artists who had used her services.

"After completing the advance payment, the fake doctor invited me to her home at Seri Merdeka Flat in Ampang.

"When she injected me with the filler, I started feeling dizzy, she then proceeded to inject me with hundreds more injections,” Ilya said, adding that due to her ongoing dizziness, she couldn’t remember anything and was told to go home.

The fake doctor then asked Ilya to come back a few days after to complete her treatment process and it was after those few days Ilya realised her mistake adding that she looked horrible at that time.

The 36-year-old also discovered that a VIP client, a woman, had died after getting an injection from the same fake doctor.

"It was at that time I learned that she wasn’t a doctor and she had used fake certificates to fool people,” she said.

After getting the injections, Ilya said she didn’t experience any side effects until 2015 after she was admitted to a hospital.

"I was bitten by a cat, and I decided to go to a clinic and it was during that time everything started to go south, and I almost died.

"Three days after receiving the shot, I fell sick and there were lumps everywhere on my body. I couldn’t walk nor breathe,” she said, adding that she was given high dosage of morphine while she was admitted which has caused her to fall asleep most of the time.

After going through multiple tests, the lumps on Ilya’s body turns out to be silicon oil which is also a prohibited substance.

After two years of keeping the news under the lid, Ilya was introduced to a plastic surgeon who helped her in removing most of the silicon oils in her body.

"This is because a lot of the silicon oils are attached to my muscles, organs and my back bones. I could risk getting paralysed if I were to remove it because it’s attached around my spinal cord areas.

"So, the doctor proceeded, not all of the silicon oils can be removed. Of course, I’m heartbroken to have to live with these lumps until now,” she said.

Ilya hopes that the justice system in Malaysia would take stern actions against cases like this in the future.

Previously, Ilya had taken to her Instagram to express her anger after a 31-year-old male was found dead in a hotel room in Teluk Intan, Perak. 

The deceased was reported to have died after getting a filler injection to enlarge his back muscles and the case was classified as sudden death without any criminal elements.  

Ilya had also asked the family of the deceased to get in touch with her through Instagram so they could take further actions and get justice for the victim.