Police in Sudan arrested two Christians for leading a Bible study. They were charged with “violating public order” after a Muslim neighbor filed a complaint against them because his children were singing Christian songs and he feared they might convert to Christianity.

Last week, on June 2, the US Department of State released its annual country-specific reports on international religious freedom in 2021. Its report on religious freedom in India highlights cases of significant human rights abuses against minorities, including credible reports of “unlawful and arbitrary killings,” “arbitrary arrest and detention by government authorities,” and “harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.” Instead of acknowledging the escalating religious persecution, the Indian government has denied attacks on minorities and their places of worship.

A 15-year-old Christian girl told a court in Pakistan on Monday (June 6) that she was kidnapped and raped by the Muslim accused of abducting her and forcibly converting and marrying her.

Terrorists launched a gun and bomb attack at the end of a Catholic Mass in southwest Nigeria on Sunday (June 5), killing an estimated 70 worshippers. A priest at the church, the Rev. Andrew Abayomi, told Morning Star News that as the worship service was coming to an end, the terrorists threw explosive devices on the church building and shot at worshippers.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of State released a report analyzing the state of religious freedom, country-by-country, around the world. Though State removed Nigeria from its list of the world’s worst persecutors in November—a move that drew widespread and continued criticism from human rights watchdogs—the recent report does highlight a number of examples where the Nigerian government is actively persecuting Christians.

A Muslim man abducted a 16-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan for the purpose of forced conversion and marriage. The incident occurred on April 5 as the girl was traveling home from her job as a worker in a local factory. At least two nearby individuals witnessed the kidnapping and attempted to save her but were deterred by violent threats from the man and his accomplices, all of whom were armed. The police were uncooperative despite the fact that the identity of the perpetrator was known and multiple eyewitnesses had observed the man force the young girl into his car.

The U.S. Department of State recently published its 2021 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, a report that details the status of religious freedom in every country around the world. This year’s report to U.S. Congress identified countries that made notable progress toward religious freedom, such as Morocco, Taiwan, and Iraq. Yet in countries like India, China, and Saudi Arabia, the situation continues to deteriorate.

At least 30 Christians in India were imprisoned in May within the state of Uttar Pradesh alone including 20 in the last week. Authorities justified these arrests by filing charges of forced conversion. In many of these cases, the arrested Christians were victims of other types of persecution.