Runaway Teen Convert Awaits Fate in Court

(AP)  The fate of a 17-year-old girl who ran away from her Ohio home because she says she feared punishment for converting from Islam to Christianity could be decided in an Orlando courtroom Friday.

An Orlando judge was scheduled to hear arguments about whether Rifqa Bary should stay in state custody in Florida or be returned to her family in Columbus, Ohio.

The teenager disappeared last month and police used phone and computer records to track her to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of Orlando, Fla.-based Global Revolution Church, who she had met through an online Facebook prayer group.

The girl's family members, who originally are from Sri Lanka, say they have never threatened to harm her.

"We love her, we want her back, she is free to practice her religion, whatever she believes in, that's OK," her father, Mohamed Bary, told The Associated Press last week.

"What these people are trying to do is not right - I don't think any religion will teach to separate the kids from their parents," he said.

Columbus police also question the girl's claim of being in danger.

Mohamed Bary "comes across to me as a loving, caring, worried father about the whereabouts and the health of his daughter," said Sgt. Jerry Cupp, chief of the Columbus police missing persons bureau.

Police investigating the girl's July 19 disappearance tracked her to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of Orlando, Fla.-based Global Revolution Church, who called authorities Aug. 6 to say she was staying with them.

The family is originally from Sri Lanka and emigrated in 2000 to seek medical help for Rifqa, who had lost sight in her right eye when she fell and struck a toy airplane on a couch at home.

Rifqa, a high school junior in well-off suburban New Albany, had been questioning her faith for several months, her father said. She attended church with friends from school and later attended services at another church, Xenos Christian Fellowship, a megachurch that emphasizes small groups meeting at home.

After Rifqa proselytized with a Bible at school, Mohamed Bary said, the family asked her to stop because it wasn't an appropriate activity in school. They also told her she had an obligation to study her original faith first, before choosing another.

But Mohamed Bary says they never threatened to kill or harm the girl. "She is still my daughter," said Bary, 47, a jeweler.

The family says Rifqa was baptized a Christian without their knowledge this year in Columbus. Around the same time, the girl met Lorenz through an online Facebook prayer group.

Rifqa ran away without explanation or a note. She told WFTV in Florida that she hitchhiked to the Columbus bus station, then took a bus to Orlando. Her parents dispute that and say she must have had help, because hitchhiking from her suburban home would be nearly impossible and she didn't have enough money for the trip.

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[toldyouso29]

Mohamed Bary "comes across to me as a loving, caring, worried father about the whereabouts and the health of his daughter," said Sgt. Jerry Cupp, chief of the Columbus police missing persons bureau. ...
The family is originally from Sri Lanka and emigrated in 2000 to seek medical help for Rifqa, who had lost sight in her right eye when she fell and struck a toy airplane on a couch at home."

Not so fast, Sgt Cupp. Most child abusers don't appear to be child abusers, if they did , they would not get away with so much abuse.

And how do you know for sure how the girl lost her eye--she fell and hit a toy airplane or did her dad slap the crap out of her so hard on the back of her head that her eye popped out? it can happen. The problem is--you don't know. If the girl does not want to return, she should not have to--because if she goes back and is harmed or even killed? What then? Well, Sgt Cupp--IF that happens, you should have to give up your badge and go to jail as well as whoever harmed her for putting her back in harms way. As a 17 year old she is old enough to be emancipated and not have to go back--no matter what. If she is afraid to go back--there must be a reason and history for this fear.

[barbaram99]

What a mess...In the states I think it is 18 when yer an adult and can leave home. She may not have nationalised.If she returns home and surely will have to wear the outfit that her former faith wishes. If this is the gurl blinded in one eyr and she felt undafe. Yet the pastor han no business having a monor runaway in his home.

[mikegetzin]

Given what we know about her Islamic family situation, her father's membership in a Fundamentalist mosque and their advocacy of Honor Killing, there is no way for her safety that she should go back to her home!!!!! The US Constitution guarantees Freedom of Religion under the 1st Amendment and her rights and personal safety have been violated and she needs to be honored with protection to include Emancipation from her parents, a new identity such as given to those in a Witness Protection Program where all names and Social Security number is changed so she can live with more safety, and for the parents, if they are not US Citizens or naturalized, they should be investigated and have their citizenship revoked and deported as a threat to this daughter. Freedom of Religion does not mean the right of any parent or family to murder anyone based on religious grounds.

[sy2502]

That the girl felt she had to run away from home because of her conversion should be all the judge should need to make his decision. The girl knows her family better than anyone else, and she felt she wasn't safe there. That's all we need to know. She should not be forced to return where she doesn't feel safe. Muslims have been known to have no qualms about killing their daughters for all sorts of intollerant reasons, from not wanting to consent to arranged marriage, to wearing clothes they don't approve of, even for having been raped and being therefore damaged goods. We also know the opinion of the Koran about infidels.

[rocketjl]

Well, one thing is for sure, if they kill her like we have seen in other cases, a lot of people 'may' say 'Oh sorry, I made a mistake'.

[cybergrannygalt]

Poor little kid..I hope she gets to stay with the Christian Family or else to be put into protective custody by the state of Florida.