Sufi Malik and Anjali Chakra, two social media influencers from Pakistan and India, have decided to break up their marriage. In separate posts on Instagram, they said the reason behind their parting ways was ‘infidelity committed by Sufi’.
The same-sex couple won hearts on the internet in 2019 after sharing pictures and videos of them wearing traditional South Asian outfits and dancing under the rain.
The same-sex couple, who shot to internet fame in 2019 through a viral photoshoot, announced over the weekend that they have ended their relationship of five years after Malik cheated on Chakra a few weeks before the wedding.
“This may come as a shock, but our journey is shifting. We have decided to call off our wedding and end our relationship due to infidelity committed by Sufi,” Anjali said in a post adding that she wished for “absolutely no negativity” to be directed toward Malik.
Sufi shared a post on Instagram about the split, confessing to cheating on her fiancee just a few weeks before their wedding.
“I made an unrecognisable mistake of betrayal by cheating on her a few weeks before our wedding. I’ve hurt her tremendously, beyond my understanding. I am owning up to my mistake and will continue to do so. I’ve hurt the people I love and care about the most through my actions, including our family and friends; our community that I cherish,” she wrote.
The couple, who had been together for over five years and got engaged a year ago. They shared a video announcing their engagement after Sufi proposed to Anjali at the iconic Empire State Building in New York.
Anjali manages a wedding planning company in New York and San Francisco, while Sufi creates lifestyle and travel content in New York.
After some fans speculated that the split was a prank, Anjali responded by clarifying that she had also pulled down their online wedding registry.
It is not known what will happen to the couple’s YouTube channel ‘Sufi and Anjali’, which has over 1.36 lakh subscribers.
Anjali and Sufi have requested privacy and respect from their fans.
Rise to internet fame
Chakra and Malik, both based in the United States, have known each other for a long time on the microblogging platform Tumblr. Chakra was the first to message Malik on Instagram.
In 2019, a series of photographs from a widely appreciated photoshoot showcased the South Asian couple dressed in traditional attire sharing laughter and kisses under a rain-stained umbrella. The pictures quickly captivated the internet, earning widespread praise as they symbolized the breaking of both gender and religious divides.