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| Ohio girl says family wants to kill her for converting to Christianity |
| 2009-08-11 |
| An Ohio girl ran away to Orlando because she said her family threatened to kill her for converting to Christianity. Rifqa Bary, 17, said she was threatened by her family because she converted from Islam to Christianity. "What did your father say to you?" WFTV reporter Mary Nguyen asked. "He said he would kill me!" replied Bary. Bary was in Orange County's juvenile justice center because her parents want to regain custody of her. She had been staying with a local Christian pastor's family. Bary said she came to the pastor's home for safety. But now a judge has ruled she will stay in the custody of the Department of Children and Families (DCF). DCF says Bary will stay in foster care until investigators can figure out if her life is in danger. "I don't want to see my father," Bary said. Rifqa Bary pleaded with a DCF case worker to let her stay with Pastor Blake Lorenz from the Global Revolution Church. The 17-year-old girl from Ohio claims her father has threatened to kill her because she has converted to Christianity and rejected her family's Muslim faith. "They have to kill me, because I'm a Christian, it's an honor. If they love me more than God then they have to kill me," she said. Rifqa Bary said she needed to get away from her family. So she hitched-hiked then got on a bus to Orlando. She had befriended the Orlando church on Facebook and ended up at the pastor's home. Lorenz called the state to investigate and a judge ruled Monday that Florida will take emergency jurisdiction until the courts can confirm Ohio will take over the case and investigate it. "There are too many conflicting things that are going on with this child and it needs to be investigated thoroughly. That is our position, the child should be returned to Ohio," said DCf attorney Karelene Cole-Palmer. Mohamed Bary came to Florida to try and bring his daughter back home and denied the allegations. "Did you threaten to kill your daughter because she converted to Christianity?" Nguyen asked. "No, no," responded Mohamed Bary. However, Rifqa Bary insists that's not the case. "This is not just threats this is reality. This is truth," she said. The 17-year-old's family is from Sri Lanka and came to the United States when she was about 8 or 9 years old. A status hearing is set for next Friday. More detail here. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #13 She can also apply (in most states, anyway) to become an emancipated minor. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2009-08-11 15:57 |
| #12 Even though she's 17, all she has to do is get in front of a juvenile court judge. He's going to defer to her wishes at some point; most juvie judges do for older teens. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2009-08-11 15:55 |
| #11 In general, children below 18 have very limited legal rights. Maybe Florida is different. On the other hand, I'm not even sure she is an American citizen. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2009-08-11 14:04 |
| #10 True, once she's 18, she's free. Now, I know nothing about this girl, but if she is a citizen, or has her proper papers, then I can think of a place she'll be pretty safe:p The United States Marine Corps. If she joins, I'll wager her fellow Marines would quite willing to ensure her safety against her family. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2009-08-11 12:41 |
| #9 On the plus side, all she has to do is run out the clock until she is 18. On the down side, it is likely that more Muslims than just her family are now out to get her. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2009-08-11 12:36 |
| #8 #3 to try and bring Good lord, did this 'writer' not pass fourth grade English? Posted by: Parabellum 2009-08-11 08:00 Parabellum, this abuse of our language ranks with the phrase ... "he/she goes" ... in place of "he/she said" or ... "ya' know wad' I mean" ... to name just a few of many examples. My experience as a middle school/high school teacher was a daily grind of trying to correct bad English usage and writing with a mixed bag of success. Welcome to an increase in functionally illiterate Americans. |
| Posted by: WolfDog 2009-08-11 11:48 |
| #7 If they send her back and she's murdered, everyone involved in sending her back should be charged with murder as well. And isn't it funny - in a sick demented way, she's only 17, so she can have as many abortions as she wants without parental notice even crossing statelines and being told to lie about it if the father is also over 18, yet when she claims her parents are going to kill her, it's "Oh no, we just have to send her back to her parents." |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2009-08-11 11:33 |
| #6 I give it a 50/50 chance they screw it up. And if they do, they will say they had no idea, or that the law didn't allow any other option than to hand her over to her executioners. Oh well. Again. Next? |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-08-11 11:25 |
| #5 When should we expect pictures of ninja suited agents with MP-5s breaking down the door to force the child back to her "loving" parents? Janet Reno, call your office. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-08-11 09:06 |
| #4 I can't think of a logical reason for the government to send her back, exceo that she is in the grips of those evil christians /snark. I hope for her sake they do not. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2009-08-11 08:32 |
| #3 to try and bring Good lord, did this 'writer' not pass fourth grade English? |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-08-11 08:00 |
| #2 This being Obambia, expect FBI to track her down and turn her over to her loving family. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-08-11 05:03 |
| #1 It is a basic and well-known tenet of the parent's religion to execute apostates. That alone should stand as prima facie evidence in the girl's favor. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2009-08-11 04:50 |