The parties were married on 7 October 2002 and had one child, who was now in the care of the plaintiff. Initially, the parties' marriage had been harmonious. By November 2006, however, it had become quarrelsome because, the plaintiff submitted, the defendant had failed to provide the plaintiff with any financial support. The defendant suffered from an (undisclosed) mental illness, preventing him from being able to work. The plaintiff submitted that she could not carry on married to the defendant, having already left him by returning to live with her parents in November 2006. The parties had remained separated for the six years leading up to the proceeding. Accordingly, the plaintiff requested that the court grant her an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in sughra).
Despite the defendant's absence from court, the court, pursuant to art 39(2) of Law No. 1 of 1974, art 19(b) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, and art 116(b) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, acceded to the plaintiff's request on the grounds that the parties had been apart for more than two consecutive years.