Rifqa Bary

Fathima Rifqa Bary (born August 10, 1992) is a Sri Lankan–born American author.

Rifqa's family moved to the United States in 2000 when she was 8.

Prior to moving to Ohio Rifqa was sexually abused by an extended family member.

When Rifqa was 12 she considered suicide.

After moving into an apartment in Ohio Rifqa shared a room with Rilvan.

She and Rilvan attended New Albany High School.

Bary's parents have said that they are Muslims and pray five times a day.

Her attorney, John Stemberger, who is the leader of a Christian advocacy group, claimed that the Bary family were members of the Noor Islamic Cultural Center (NICC), near Columbus.

Rifqa became a Christian in 2005 at the age of 13.

In an official statement, NICC denied it was familiar with Rifqa Bary or her family and stated that their records showed she attended the cultural center's Sunday School only three times in 2007.

She drew international attention in 2009, when she ran away from her home in Ohio under the threat of an honor killing by her family due to her conversion to Christianity from Islam.

As she fled to Florida and sought refuge with a family of evangelical Protestants, her story was widely broadcast on television and discussed on political blogs, eventually becoming a focal point in a religious clash between Christians and Muslims in the United States.

Rifqa Bary is the only daughter of Mohamed and Aysha Bary.

She grew up in Columbus, Ohio with her older brother Rilvan and her younger brother Rajaa.

Her parents initially came to the U.S. from Sri Lanka to seek medical care for Rifqa after she became blind in her right eye when Rilvan threw a toy airplane at her when she was 5.

Mohamed Bary ran Bary Gems until 2009 when he closed his business.

In July 2009, she was secretly baptized in Big Walnut Creek, at Hoover Dam Park by her mentor and friend Brian Michael Williams, an aspiring pastor and college student, while her family was not at home.

Rifqa eventually became a member of Columbus Korean United Methodist Church.

Rifqa would often worship at the local prayer house at Ohio State University.

On July 19, 2009 Rifqa ran away from her family's home to the home of Orlando, Florida Christian pastor Blake Lorenz and his wife, Beverly, with whom Rifqa had communicated on Facebook.

Rifqa had told Beverly Lorenz that her parents would kill her for converting to Christianity.

Williams drove her to a bus station where a ticket was purchased under an assumed name for her bus ride to Florida.

Bary lived with the Lorenzes for more than two weeks before they contacted child welfare authorities, though Florida law required that they contact authorities within 24 hours of receiving Rifqa into their home.

The police were able to locate Rifqa through her cell phone and internet history.

Rifqa turned herself in to the police and spent two nights in jail until a judge set her free.

Her case drew attention when she appeared on television and declared that her father said, "He would kill me or send me back to Sri Lanka," describing herself as the intended victim of an honor killing.

A report commissioned by the Department of Justice under the Obama administration determined that honor killings are a credible threat for some young Muslim women who become "too Westernized."

Her parents said they never threatened to harm her.

Her father told a reporter that, "Honestly, we didn't know why she left."

Regarding the death threat described by his daughter, he said, "She doesn't know what she's talking about," and, "I want her to come back home. I love my daughter whether she's Christian, or anything else. I want my daughter back."

Rifqa Bary was taken into custody by Florida child welfare authorities while an investigation was conducted.

The court appointed attorneys for her parents: private practitioner Craig McCarthy for the mother, and a lawyer from the state Florida Regional Council for the father.

As is the result in the vast majority of cases involving alleged child abuse, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement report was inconclusive, finding no hard evidence of physical or verbal abuse.

In the report, Bary's father states that he did pick up his daughter's laptop to throw it, but did not throw it due to the cost of the laptop (Bary alleged that her father raised the laptop above her head as though ready to hit her with it).

The FDLE report raised questions about one claim made by Bary: that her parents did not know she was a cheerleader.

The FDLE report states that pictures of her in uniform were prominently displayed in the family's home three days later when the police visited and interviewed them, and that Mr. Bary signed the permission slip for her to be a cheerleader when Mrs. Bary would not.

The FDLE report also stated that they did not investigate anyone in the larger Ohio Muslim community and that Florida authorities relied in part on the investigation done by authorities in Ohio.

On October 13, 2009, Orange County (Florida) Judge Daniel P. Dawson ruled that he would return Bary to Ohio pending a settlement of her immigration status.

On October 27, 2009, Bary was returned to Ohio and temporarily placed in the custody of Franklin County Children Services.

The public agency was to monitor her internet and phone use.