COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- An Ohio judge refused Tuesday to order mediation for the family of a teenager who says her Muslim father threatened to kill her for converting.
Magistrate Mary Goodrich, in a hearing in Juvenile Court, suggested Fathima Rifqa Bary, 17, and her parents might do better with individual counseling sessions, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
The teenager ran away from home in July, taking refuge with a couple, both Christian pastors in Orlando, Fla., she had met on the Internet. She said Mohammed Bary, her father, had threatened her for converting.
She was returned to Ohio in October and has been living in a foster home. Authorities in both states said they found no evidence she was in danger.
Franklin County, Ohio, Children's Services had asked for mediation, suggesting that might enable Rifqa to return home.
Omar Tarazi, a lawyer for the parents, withdrew a motion asking that all Christmas cards and other letters sent to Rifqa go through Children's Services.
