The parties were married on 7 March 1997 before a marriage registry official at the local Office of Religious Affairs. The plaintiff submitted that, at the end of 2011, she and the defendant had begun to quarrel often. This was a result of the defendant's gambling addiction, as well as his lack of financial transparency with the plaintiff. On one occasion this lack of transparency had resulted in a pivotal disagreement that left the plaintiff feeling uncomfortable in her relationship with the defendant. While family intervention had previously made the parties reconcile, this disagreement compromised any genuine reconciliation. Problems escalated further in September 2013, when the defendant failed to maintain his end of an agreement with the plaintiff to purchase a vehicle.
The plaintiff, having lost patience with the defendant, left Batam (where the parties were living) and returned home to Padang to her parents' home. Since then the defendant had not asked the plaintiff how she and their children were. On 30 January 2014, the defendant sent to the plaintiff a piece of paper, the contents of which stated that he divorced the plaintiff. Accordingly, the plaintiff decided their differences were irreconcilable and sought to divorce the defendant.
The court, pursuant to art 19(f) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, in conjunction with art 116(f) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, acceded to the plaintiff's request for an irrevocable divorce (talak satu ba'in shugra) on the grounds that ongoing conflict between the parties was a legitimate reason for divorce.