Padang Religious Court Decision No. 687 of 2014: Irrevocable Divorce Granted

The plaintiff's claim stated that, after the parties were married on 1 October 2010 before a marriage registry official from the local Office of Religious Affairs, work commitments had necessitated their living apart. The plaintiff worked at the Sungai Garinggiang Public Health Centre, and lived at the Health Centre's service house, while the defendant lived with his parents in Padang. Once every three days the plaintiff returned to her parents' home until the parties separated. The parties had one child.

The plaintiff submitted that, since the beginning of the marriage, she and the defendant had quarrelled continuously. This was because:

  1. the defendant did not dedicate enough time to the plaintiff; and
  2. the plaintiff had heard from family friends that the defendant had had an extra-marital affair, and, while the defendant had denied the allegation, the plaintiff's own investigation revealed that the defendant had indeed had an affair with his previous girlfriend.

Problems escalated in mid-October 2012, as the defendant was still in contact with his previous girlfriend. While the defendant denied these allegations again, the ensuing argument caused him to leave the plaintiff's parents' home. The parties had remained separated since then, and the defendant had not provided the plaintiff with any financial support. In August 2013, the plaintiff was informed by friends of the defendant that the defendant had married his previous girlfriend.

The court noted that its advice to the parties that they reconcile had been to no avail. Moreover, the defendant had no objections to the plaintiff's request for a divorce. Accordingly, the court, pursuant to art 39(2) of Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage, in conjunction with art 19(f) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, and art 116 of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, granted the plaintiff an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in shugra) on the grounds of ongoing conflict.

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