Rifqa Bary, a 17-year-old girl from Ohio who fled her family’s home after converting from Islam to Christianity, is doing well in foster care, attending weekly counseling sessions and will graduate from high school in June, Bary’s attorney told an Ohio judge April 5.
The attorney also asked Franklin County Domestic Relations Judge Elizabeth Gill to rule that Bary would not be reunited with her parents by Aug. 10 — her 18th birthday — so she can file for special immigration status while she is still a minor, the Columbus Dispatch reported. That would allow Bary to petition to remain in the United States without her parents’ consent.
The girl ran away to Florida in July 2009, saying that her Muslim father, Mohamed Bary, threatened to kill her for becoming a Christian. Florida’s Department of Children and Families took emergency protective custody of her in August 2009 and placed her with foster parents. Her parents denied the accusations. (BP)
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