A bestselling author and critic of Islam believes that a 17-year-old Christian convert who fled to Florida in July is in extreme danger now that she has been returned to Ohio.
The Florida Department of Children and Families announced Tuesday that Rifqa Bary had been returned to Columbus, Ohio, and is now in the custody of Franklin County Children Services. According to the Columbus Dispatch, she was not at a dependency hearing in Franklin County Juvenile Court, and attorneys have agreed to continue her case until November 16. The teenager fled her home in July because she feared her family would have her killed for converting from Islam. Her family denied those allegations and wanted her returned home. Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, says young Rifqa is being held as a virtual prisoner with no way to communicate with the outside world. "Rifqa has been deprived of access to the telephone or to the Internet, which makes it virtually impossible for her to alert anyone if she does get to be in danger from her family or from the mosque," Spencer reports. The Jihad Watch director also says Rifqa's parents' attorney reneged on an oral promise. This guaranteed she could remain in foster care in Ohio until she turns 18 if the contempt of court charges against the father for not producing proper immigration documents were dropped. "And so Rifqa is now in Ohio in imminent danger of being returned to her family with no promise whatsoever that she will be allowed to stay away from them until she's eighteen." Spencer concludes that "the situation right now is very very dangerous," and that Ohio authorities are gambling with the girl's life.
The Florida Department of Children and Families announced Tuesday that Rifqa Bary had been returned to Columbus, Ohio, and is now in the custody of Franklin County Children Services. According to the Columbus Dispatch, she was not at a dependency hearing in Franklin County Juvenile Court, and attorneys have agreed to continue her case until November 16. The teenager fled her home in July because she feared her family would have her killed for converting from Islam. Her family denied those allegations and wanted her returned home. Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, says young Rifqa is being held as a virtual prisoner with no way to communicate with the outside world. "Rifqa has been deprived of access to the telephone or to the Internet, which makes it virtually impossible for her to alert anyone if she does get to be in danger from her family or from the mosque," Spencer reports. The Jihad Watch director also says Rifqa's parents' attorney reneged on an oral promise. This guaranteed she could remain in foster care in Ohio until she turns 18 if the contempt of court charges against the father for not producing proper immigration documents were dropped. "And so Rifqa is now in Ohio in imminent danger of being returned to her family with no promise whatsoever that she will be allowed to stay away from them until she's eighteen."
Spencer concludes that "the situation right now is very very dangerous," and that Ohio authorities are gambling with the girl's life.
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