The parties were married on 20 September 1999 and had one child, born on 4 December 2003. For the majority of their marriage they had lived with the plaintiff's parents in Cilacap. The plaintiff submitted that the parties' marriage had been harmonious until 2004, after which time it had become quarrelsome because the defendant's refusal to work had left the parties without the financial means required to support themselves and their child.
In December 2005, the plaintiff had relocated to Jakarta to work as a domestic worker (pembantu). Again, in December 2008, the plaintiff relocated to Malaysia as a domestic worker. In December 2010, when the plaintiff returned to Cilacap for 20 days on leave, the parties had continued to quarrel, principally because the defendant had amassed several debts in the plaintiff's absence. The plaintiff sought to repay the defendant's debts while the defendant moved in with his older sibling. On 19 June 2011, when the plaintiff again returned to Indonesia, the defendant expressed no desire to reunite with the plaintiff or their child. Accordingly, the plaintiff, pursuant to art 116(f) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, in conjunction with art 19(f) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, requested that the court grant her an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in sughra).
Despite the defendant's absence from court, the court acceded to the plaintiff's application, noting that the information provided by the two witnesses produced by the plaintiff corroborated with the plaintiff's submissions.