The parties were married on 2 March 2015. At the time of their marriage the plaintiff was a widow and the defendant a widower. Their marriage had been harmonious for one year and three months, but by July 2016 it had become quarrelsome because, the plaintiff submitted, the defendant could not accept the plaintiff's three children from her first marriage.
In August 2016 problems escalated, resulting in the plaintiff returning to her parents' home. The parties had remained separated for one month and two weeks approaching the proceeding. Familial efforts to make the parties reconcile had been unsuccessful and the plaintiff, believing the parties' marriage was beyond repair, requested that the court grant her an irrevocable divorce (talak satu bain sughro).
Despite the defendant's absence, the court, pursuant to art 19(f) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, and art 116(f) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, acceded to the plaintiff's request on the grounds of ongoing conflict. The court also cited Ar-Rum verse 21 from the Qur'an, as well as art 1 of Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage, regarding the supposed tranquility of marriage.