A New York judge has granted permission to a woman to file for divorce from her husband. There's nothing unusual there, but there is a peculiar aspect to the story - the divorce papers will be served through a Facebook private message.

As reported by Daily News, the case involves a nurse named Ellanora Baidoo from Brooklyn. She married a man named Victor Sena Blood-Dzraku in a civil ceremony back in 2009 - but Mr Blood-Dzraku has since 'disappeared'.

Mrs Baidoo had been promised a traditional Ghanaian wedding ceremony by her new husband, but he failed to follow through on that promise. They have never lived together as a result.

Mr Blood-Dzraku 'has no fixed address and no place of employment', and no records with the likes of the motor vehicles department. However, he is still occasionally in contact with his wife via Facebook.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Matthew Cooper ruled that "in light of the foregoing, plaintiff is granted permission to serve defendant with the divorce summons using a private message through Facebook. Specifically, because litigants are prohibited from serving other litigants, plaintiff's attorney shall log into plaintiff's Facebook account and message the defendant by first identifying himself, and then including either a web address of the summons or attaching an image of the summons."

The message will be repeated once a week for three weeks, or 'until acknowledged by the defendant'.