In a candid interview a fortnight after her high profile split from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Reham has broken her ‘silence’ about her ten-month marriage and its eventual dissolution. Talking to The Sunday Times, she claims “a conspiracy was hatched against me” and that she has been the victim of a witch-hunt. When high-profile marriages break apart, speculations on the union’s demise are common. Although a private matter between two adults, the media and public’s prurient interest helps stoke the flames. Lack of journalistic ethics already plagues our media. By promoting an unhealthy obsession with Imran and Reham’s marriage/split, it is imitating a western ‘tabloid reporting’ style. But in truth, the couple lent themselves to such media attention before and after their marriage. Imran Khan’s first divorce hardly created any media hysteria; it was a quiet, civilized and dignified parting of the ways. Imran and Reham’s ‘fast tracked’ marriage was a bit of a disaster from the beginning: instead of getting to know each other prior to tying the knot, according to Reham, their ‘non-compatibility’ became pronounced after their marriage. Despite familial opposition, if two people get along and have a congenial consonance, no power can tear them apart, but if two people are fundamentally unsuited, then nothing can keep them together. In a society that has an intrinsic tendency of attacking and denigrating women over issues of marriage, divorce and the domesticity in between, it is important to understand the break up without colouring either individual with a preconceived notion of ‘a man can do no wrong and a woman can do no right’. It is the responsibility of both parties when a marriage ends in failure. One-sided views can distort the reality of how and why a union works or fails, like it did in this case. Reham has said that her status as a woman made her an obvious target and thus an implicit victim; the media has been overly focused on her old videos, pictures and her former marriage. On the other hand, she reveals that her marriage to Imran Khan was not registered, thus giving her no entitlement benefits. The unnecessarily blown up accounts of a divorce harm the children more than the involved adults, and the media and the public should keep in mind the sensitive, fragile and private nature of marriages and splits. The former couple should invest in ‘discretion’ rather than making a spectacle of their discord, which is not going to help either’s personal or social standing. *