The plaintiff (unemployed, aged 21) and the defendant (unemployed, aged 24) were married on 29 April 2012. They lived together in the plaintiff’s parents’ home and had no children. In May 2012 the parties had begun to quarrel regularly. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant had been reluctant to work, and had not fulfilled his obligation to support the plaintiff, resulting in the plaintiff’s parents having to financially support the parties. Problems escalated in June 2012 when the defendant left the plaintiff. The defendant did not disclose his whereabouts and never returned to the plaintiff, providing her with no financial support. The plaintiff claimed to have suffered as a result and requested the Court grant her an irrevocable divorce.
While the plaintiff cooperated with the Court, the defendant failed to attend the proceeding, despite having been summonsed. Due to the defendant's absence, pre-trial mediation, pursuant to s 7(1) of Supreme Court Regulation No. 1 of 2008, was not possible. The Court proceeded in the defendant's absence.
The Court found that the marriage could no longer fulfil the purposes of marriage as envisaged in art 1 of Law No. 1 of 1974 on Marriage, in conjunction with art 3 of the Compilation of Islamic Laws, and that the plaintiff’s reasons for the claim satisfied the requirements of art 39(2) of Law No. 1 of 1974, in conjunction with art 19(f) of Government Regulation No. 9 of 1975, and art 116(f) of the Compilation of Islamic Laws.
The Court granted the plaintiff an irrevocable divorce (talak satu bain sughra) and ordered her to pay all court costs in the amount of IDR 386,000.