Ohio Muslim couple, convert daughter agree to continue counseling in effort to reunite

Parents, teen convert agree to continue counseling

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A judge chided a divided family for filing legal motions instead of talking to one another, then pushed a reconciliation plan back on track Tuesday between a Muslim couple and their teenage daughter who claimed she feared for her life for converting to Christianity.

Both the girl, Rifqa Bary, and her parents agreed to follow a counseling plan drawn up by the Franklin County child welfare agency last year to try to resolve the family’s conflict.

The plan requires the girl and her parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, to work with individual counselors and to try to attend joint counseling.

Tuesday’s deal patched up a short-lived January agreement that fell apart when the parents said their daughter was being allowed to contact Christian pastors who allegedly helped her run away to Florida in July. The couple believe that contact was hurting their chance for reconciliation.

The arrangement left open the possibility of such contact, but added a new requirement: The child welfare agency was to gather information on any pending criminal charges against the ministers and pass that on to the family’s counselors.

The counselors must then draw up recommendations for any possible contact after talking to Rifqa and her parents.

Columbus police and county prosecutors are investigating whether anyone broke the law helping Bary leave Ohio for Florida.

Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Gill lectured both Bary and her parents, who sat on opposite sides of a small courtroom and did not speak to one another, that communicating with each other was the best way for each to reach their goals.

“Having your lawyers come to court and file motions is not encouraging that,” Gill said.

Gill told the parents she recognized their frustrations with the process but believed that the best course was to move ahead with counseling to heal the family.

“The only individuals that are going to be able to repair it are the three of you, with professional help,” Gill said.

Police in Florida and Columbus found no evidence that the girl faced harm in Ohio.

A few people describing themselves as Christian supporters of the girl who said they didn’t know her personally attended Tuesday’s hearing, including retiree Don Berger, 70, of Columbus.

“Children’s services and the court system need to protect her,” Berger said.

Bary’s case has drawn national attention, especially among bloggers, with anti-Islam groups warning she could face death and some Muslim groups saying she’s being exploited by outsiders. Dozens of supporters of the girl rallied outside the courthouse this year before a hearing.

Earlier at Tuesday’s hearing, the parents’ attorney, Omar Tarazi, said the mother and father still “want a reasonable, good-faith chance for reconciliation” but recognize that time is running out.

“If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Tarazi said.

Rifqa Bary, who turns 18 in August, previously asked the court to rule that a reunion is impossible and that it is not in her best interest to be returned to her native Sri Lanka.

“She wants to practice the Christian religion and believes she would be in danger if she practiced that religion at home,” said the teen’s lawyer, Angela Lloyd. Noting that her parents wanted to back out of the January deal, she said their “actions continue to reinforce that.”

Bonnie Vangeloff, a court-appointed attorney who represents the girl’s rights as a child in foster care, told the judge the family needs counseling but that reconciliation is probably unlikely before the girl turns 18.

Tuesday’s hearing also touched on Bary’s immigration status, with Lloyd confirming in court that the girl is an illegal immigrant.

“Unlike her parents, if reconciliation fails, at 18 then she is without legal status,” Lloyd said.

The immigration status of the parents is unclear, although Lloyd said in court that the couple are “pursuing their own immigration relief.” Attorneys have been under an order not to talk about the case.