The parties were married on 4 Feburary 2016. The plaintiff's father had served as the marriage guardian (wali nikah), the parties were married by the local imam, two witnesses had been present, and the dowry (mas kawin) had been a two-gram ring purchased with cash. The parties did not, however, have a marriage book (buku nikah), which the plaintiff required for administrative purposes in order to divorce the defendant.
The plaintiff submitted that the parties' marriage had only been harmonious until the end of February 2016, when it had become increasingly quarrelsome. The plaintiff, therefore, requested that the court declare the parties' marriage lawful, and grant her an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in sughra).
On the day of the proceeding, however, the defendant failed to attend because, despite having been summonsed by the court bailiff, he had never received the summons as no one in the defendant's community, including authorities, knew him. Moreover, the court had counselled the plaintiff to first locate the defendant and then seek to reconcile with him. The plaintiff, acting on the court's advice, opted to withdraw her application.