August 28, 2009

A 17-year-old Ohio girl who secretly converted from Islam to Christianity says she fled to Florida for fear of her life.  Fathima Rifqa Bary, the teen runaway who goes by Rifqa, is in protective custody with Florida's Department of Children and Families. 

Rifqa says her father threatened her life when he learned of her conversion to Christianity vowing to kill her in the long standing Islamic tradition of "honor killings."

A judge ruled in the teen's favor August 21 , allowing time to investigate her case. Although her family, who is from Sri Lanka, say they will allow her to practice her Christian faith unharmed, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating whether she is in danger if she returns home.

"I was threatened by my dad," Rifqa told media. "I had a laptop, and he took that laptop and waved it in the air and he was about to beat me with it, and he said, ‘If you have this Jesus in your heart, you're dead to me. You're not my daughter.' And I refused to speak but he said, ‘I will kill you. Tell me the truth.' So I knew that I had to get away."

Alan Kornman, with the Orlando chapter ACT for America, a group who says it opposes what they call authoritarian values of Islam fascism, says many fear the secular media isn't taking seriously the issues at play.

"It is almost like Rifqa is on trail," said Kornman. "The secular media has been very hostile towards her and irresponsible in its reporting."

John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney representing the teen, told Crosswalk.com, "There is a strong media bias against this case. Outlets like CNN are choosing to completely ignore the case, while others are covering the story as if Rifqa was wrong for following her Christian convictions."

Rifqa's claim certainly has a basis in current events. The U.N. Population Fund estimates that there are as many as 5,000 honor killings worldwide every year.  These "honor killings," in which the victims are usually women, serve both to "cleanse" the social or spiritual stain of the victim, and to warn others who might be tempted to breach that same code of conduct.

"In 150 years in my family no one has known Jesus - I am the first one. Imagine the honor in killing me," said Rifqa in video interview now posted on YouTube.

Mohamed Bary and his wife, Aysha, deny their daughter's allegations. "We love her; we want her back. She is free to practice her religion, whatever she believes in. That's O.K.," Mohamed told The Associated Press.

"There is a vast, vast difference between not being pleased that your child has not chosen your faith and wanting to kill your child," says Craig McCarthy, one of two Orlando attorneys appointed to represent the Barys.

But the Barys' actions lend some credibility to Rifqa's claims. Her father reportedly dissolved his jewelry business on July 29 after he discovered her faith, making conservative pundits like Pamela Geller speculate that the family was preparing to return to Sri Lanka. Since then, the girl's parents have signed affidavits declaring themselves indigent despite the successful business. As a result, the Florida court appointed taxpayer-funded attorneys for both the father and the mother.  

"I am sure the industrious Barys will claim poverty so expect the inevitable denials," said Geller on her blog. "But clearly it calls into question their honesty, their character and the lengths they will go to."