Rifqa Bary returns to Columbus

Judge orders agency to monitor religious runaway’s phone, Internet use

Fathima Rifqa Bary is back in Columbus as of noon today, the Florida Department of Children and Families has announced.

The 17-year-old runaway is now in the custody of Franklin County Children Services. She will live in a foster home, rather than immediately returning to her parents’ Northeast Side apartment.

She accused her father, Mohamed Bary, of threatening to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity. He denies the accusations, and authorities have found no credible threats to her safety.

She ran away to Orlando in July. A Florida case was opened, but the judge ultimately decided that jurisdiction belongs to Ohio.

The girl, who goes by Rifqa, was not at a dependency hearing this morning in Franklin County Juvenile Court. Attorneys agreed to continue the case until Nov. 16.

Magistrate Mary Goodrich did order Children Services to monitor Rifqa’s phone and Internet useafter Jim Zorn, a Children Services attorney, asked for the restrictions.

Her parents have said they are concerned that she was talking to adults on Facebook before she ran away.

After she arrived in Orlando, she stayed for more than two weeks with a pastor couple she met on Facebook. She also met another couple, who bought her bus ticket, on the site, she said.

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