Ambon Religious Court Decision No. 96 of 2011: Irrevocable Divorce Granted Due To Ongoing Conflict

The parties were married on 10 February 2008 and had two children (the parties' three-year old child was currently in the care of the defendant's parents in Sorong, Papua, while the parties' one-year old child was in the care of the plaintiff). The plaintiff submitted that the parties had not been married long before the marriage had become quarrelsome. This was because the defendant would consume alcohol excessively, gamble, carry on extra-marital affairs, and come home in the middle of the night. When the parties would argue the defendant would also become physically violent towards the plaintiff.

Problems escalated in mid-May 2010 when the defendant hit the plaintiff with a plank of wood while telling her he was leaving her. The parties had remained separated since.

The plaintiff requested that the court grant her an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in sughra), that the parties' three-year old child be placed in her custody, and that it order the defendant to pay to the plaintiff:

  1. IDR 11 million in spousal maintenance backpayments;
  2. IDR 2 million for iddah (three-month period after divorce has been granted);
  3. IDR 1 million as mut'ah (divorce compensation); and
  4. IDR 1 million per month in child maintenance.

Purusant to art 19(f) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, and art 116(f) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, the court acceded to the plaintiff's request for an irrevocable divorce on the grounds of ongoing conflict. It also acceded to her request to be granted custody of the parties' two children. Taking into consideration the defendant's income as a tukang ojek (motorcycle taxi driver), it also ordered him to pay to the plaintiff:

  1. IDR 1 million per month in child maintenance;
  2. IDR 5.5 million in backdated spousal maintenance; and
  3. IDR 1.5 million for iddah.
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