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Fathima Rifqa Bary: 17-year-old |
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Fathima Rifqa Bary: 17-year-old
Muslim to Christian convert fears for her life
Human Rights in America
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is part of an ongong story we've discussed on our "Community Matters" radio talk show, a story we'll continue to cover, since for us its an obvious matter of human rights.
August 23, 2009
Fathima Rifqa Bary is a 17-year-old convert to Christianity. That in itself is not remarkable. The reason it is of concern is that she was raised in a devout muslim family. She is currently the center of a case that will determine if she is to be returned to from Florida to her family in Ohio who she claims will be obliged to kill her in an honor killing if she returns. (See a video of Rifqa speaking about her ordeal below.)
Rifqa Bary is 17-years-old and ran away from home after her father found out she had converted to Christianity from the family's religion of islam. Her devout muslim family is obligated to kill her, as an honor killing, under Sharia law. That is the islamic law practiced by many muslims. In the case of honor killings, the family is required to kill a daughter who has dishonored the family to prove that their religion is more important to them than their child. |
Rifga's family has attempted to get her to return home, putting her in the middle of a battle between her family and the State of Florida while she pleads not only for her independence from her family, but for her life.
She has been referred to as a ‘dead girl walking' with every expectation that she would be forced to return to Ohio and her family, and certain death at the hands of her father and brothers. As she explains in the video below, its not that the want to kill her, its that they have to kill her as dictated by the practices of their religion.
At this point, she has been given a reprieve. Florida Judge Dan Dawson has ruled that she will stay in foster care in Florida until September 3, 2009 while the case is being decided and while law enforcement continues to investigate. The parents, Mohamed Bary and Aysha Bary have impressed law enforcement in Ohio as loving parents who are only concerned about the well being of their daughter. The family moved to the United States for Sri Lanka in 2000 to get medical treatment for Rifga who had damaged one of her eyes when she fell on a toy. The father is a jeweler and they have stayed here since then.
Honor killings are common among devout muslims. As Rifga explains in the video below, it is required of the family of girls who stray from the behavior expected of them under Sharia Law. If they live in the West and become too Westernized, talk to boys that are not muslim, wear Western clothing, or behave as Westerners do, the father and brothers are obligated to kill them to retain the family's honor. Fathima Rifqa Bary, the 17-year-old convert, converting to another religion would certainly be a serious infraction, requiring action on the part of the males in the family.
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