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The parties were married on 24 August 2008 and had one child. They had lived with the respondent's parents for the first six months of their marriage, after which they separated, the applicant moving back to his own parents' home. The applicant submitted that the marriage had become quarrelsome because:

1. the respondent's family would frequently criticise the applicant, calling him impotent;
2. the respondent would frequently communicate with her ex-boyfriends, despite the applicant asking her not to do so; and
3. the respondent would often go out at night for no apparent need, and if the applicant advised her against doing so, the respondent and her family would become angry with the applicant, the respondent even once leaving the applicant for five months, without first informing the applicant.

In February 2009, feeling undervalued and as though he could no longer cope, the applicant left the respondent. The parties had remained separated for the four years and two months leading up to the proceeding, which had caused the applicant great emotional suffering. Familial intervention had failed to make the parties reconcile, and the applicant was resigned to the fact that the marriage could not be salvaged. Accordingly, he sought the court's permission to divorce (talak satu raj'i) the respondent.

Despite the respondent's absence from court, pursuant to art 39(2) of Law No. 1 of 1974, art 19(b) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, and art 116(b) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, the court acceded to the applicant's request on the grounds that the parties had been apart for more than two consecutive years.