Yuzvendra Chahal and RJ Mahvash were recently spotted together at the Champions Trophy final and the internet immediately exploded. And not in the way it did a few months back. Just rewind a few months, and the internet was on fire, tearing into Dhanashree Verma when news of her divorce with Chahal broke. Pictures of her with a colleague went viral with captions like, “She used Yuzvi for money and fame.” She was assumed to be disloyal and Yuzvi was heartbroken and cheated on in love. This wasn’t speculation, this was a decision. The internet decided Dhanashree was at fault. And why? Because when a marriage ends, society has a default setting: blame the woman.

The Internet’s favourite villain: The divorced woman

When Chahal and Dhanashree announced their split, it wasn’t just gossip, it was a full-blown character assassination.

“She was just there for the fame.”
“She got what she wanted and moved on.”
“Poor Chahal, he deserved better.”

Meanwhile, Chahal? He got sympathy and support. No one questioned whether he had done anything wrong. No one speculated about his motives. It was all about how poor Chahal had been “betrayed”, without a single shred of evidence to back up the accusations against Dhanashree. Never mind that breakups are usually more complicated than a simple who-left-whom narrative. The internet had made up its mind – Dhanashree was guilty.

Double standards? You don’t say

But here’s the thing, this isn’t just about Dhanashree. It’s about a pattern that plays out every time a high-profile breakup happens.

When Malaika Arora moved on after her divorce, she was termed shameless and selfish. Meanwhile, Arbaaz Khan quietly started dating someone else. When Sobhita Dhulipala and Naga Chaitanya got married, Sobhita was called a homewrecker because Naga Chaitanya had no role in marrying her, right? When a divorce happens, there’s always a villain, and 99% of the time, it’s a woman.

The Internet loves to play moral police (selectively)

Now after spotting Yuzvendra Chahal with RJ Mahvash, the internet (or just the women on the internet?) is finally wondering if the roles were reversed how we all would have been reacting. But the real question isn’t this. It’s why we are so quick to slut-shame women when a relationship ends. Why do we always assume that the woman used the man, cheated on him and left him heartbroken?

It’s time we stop turning women into villains for no reason at all. Maybe we don’t need to dissect every divorce like it’s a crime scene and let the people involved take care of it.

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Related: Yuzvendra Chahal-Dhanashree Divorce Rumours: Why Do Cricket Fanboys Keep Trolling Cricketers’ Wives?