¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you; (1 Peter 4:12 NASV)

In May, I reported on an outbreak of persecution in India against Christians living in the province of Manipur located in Northeastern India.

The persecution, which started on May 3, 2023, was sparked by Hindu nationalists against the minority Christian Kuki-Zo tribe which make up 41% of the province’s population. The violence resulted in the deaths of over 60 Christians and the damage or destruction of 400 churches.

The Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the most part has been ambivalent towards the increasing persecution of Christians across the country.

However, if you can believe the Prime Minister’s recent rhetoric, an incident that took place during that month-long persecution may have finally caught the government’s attention.

People across India were outraged by a video of an incident that took place in that province in May as part of the persecution of Christians but only surfaced recently on social media.

The horrific 26-second video showed two naked Christian women being led down the street by a group of 1,000 baying men who were groping them as they were being pulled along by the crowd.

The two women were then taken to a nearby field and where at least one of them, a 21-year-old girl, was allegedly gang raped. Other reports stated that both, including a 43-year-old woman, were sexually assaulted.

The young girl added that as her village was being attacked by Hindu nationalists, she along with the other women was actually seized by the police and handed over to the mob.

According to a village leader, the father and brother of one of the women had been murdered as they were trying to protect one of the girls.

Over the past few years, India has been rocked by the mistreatment of women across the country which has seen girls raped while they were traveling on public transport.

This mistreatment of women in the country has proven to be a national embarrassment with people now demanding change.

And though the brutal murder of Christians in the state of Manipur was largely ignored by India’s government, the treatment of these two women may have finally spurred the government into action.

Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Modi referred to the incident as “shameful for any civilized nation”:

“The guilty will not be spared. What has happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” Prime Minister Modi said.

“My heart is filled with pain and anger. The incident from Manipur that has come to the fore is shameful for any civilized nation,” added Modi.

Using the video, police have already arrested four of the men involved with more arrests pending. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.

READ: Christian women paraded naked through Indian village AND ‘They made us walk naked, they abused us, they touched us everywhere’: Victim of mob gang-rape that has ‘shamed India’ describes ordeal the two Christian women suffered AND Mob who paraded two women naked before gang-raping them in ‘revenge attack sparked by fake video’ could face death penalty, minister warns as cops make four arrests