An atheist organization in India is promoting Friday as "Hug an Atheist Day," and hundreds have already agreed to participate.

The "Hug an Atheist Day" event page on Facebook, which was created by Indian Atheists, showed over 650 people planned to participate in the event as of Thursday afternoon. The organization is encouraging those who want to hug or be hugged across the nation to set up local meetings where they can gather together to observe the event.

The purpose of the celebration, according to the event page, is "to have a national event, get noticed, spread the word that we exist and we are humans like everyone else, also to create a progressive society where hugs need not necessarily be creepy and act of hugging doesn't have to be taboo for rationalists, as if emotions are poison for rationality (not)." more >>

Six men accused of raping and robbing a 39-year-old Swiss woman while cycling with her husband in Central India were arraigned in court Monday amid statements by Indian police that seem to blame the victims for the attack.

The attack, in a jungle near Jhadia village Friday, has attracted worldwide attention after a woman died three months ago in India in a brutal gang-rape on a moving bus in New Delhi. The accused driver in the New Delhi case, Ram Singh, reportedly committed suicide in police custody last Monday.

The six men, who were arrested Sunday, appeared in a magistrate's court in Madhya Pradesh state on Monday afternoon, covering their faces with black cloth, and were sent to police custody for a day, Press Trust of India reported. more >>

Christians in the eastern region of India were tortured and beaten for hours in their village by local police officers last month, Barnabas Fund reported Tuesday.

Around 60 officers surrounded Phatachanchara village at 2:30am and forced their way into the homes of Christians on Feb 15.

The Ganjam district village in Orissa, India was in an uproar and a four-year-old boy received a fractured hand after an officer stepped on it, according to Barnabas Fund, an organization that supports persecuted and oppressed Christians. more >>

"Not Today," an award-winning movie that tackles human trafficking, is set to open in several major markets across America next month, with a mission to raise awareness about one of the most critical problems the world faces today.

"What we hope is that this will be a catalyst for conversation, if we can get the story out," said Matthew Cork, lead pastor at Friends Church in Yorba Linda, Calif., and executive producer of "Not Today," in an exclusive interview with The Christian Post.

"The people that we really believe that God has called us to work with is the Dalits – 300,000 million of them who have been in this type of slavery for over 3,000 years; and many people in America don't even know who we are." more >>

Pastor Mallik Arjun knew something was wrong when he received a call from the mobile phone of his friend and fellow pastor in Gadag District, Karnataka state – but it was a stranger on the other end of the line.

The stranger told him that Pastor Nagesh Naik was being held at a hotel near Korlahalli village and to come and find him. It was a Sunday evening, Feb. 3, after Pastor Arjun's colleague had led a home worship of the Gypsy Mission church in a neighboring village.

"I went with three church members on two motorbikes, and we were looking for such hotel all through the way and could not find one," Pastor Arjun, of the Indian Pentecostal Church, told Morning Star News. "Finally we found a mob swelling up in a temple, and that was where they kept him – and as soon as we reached the temple, they accused us of forceful conversion and started to attack me, Pastor Nagesh and the other three Christians." more >>

A stampede in India on Sunday resulted in the death of 36 victims, predominately older women, as millions rushed to take part in the world's largest religious festival at a temporary city in Allahabad, northern India.

The tragedy reportedly occurred at the train station located in the northern city of Allahabad, where a stampede took place as thousands scurried to board a train that would take them to the site of the Kumbh Mela festival, a two-month -long festival that takes place at a makeshift city featuring a long, sandy bank that represents the intersection of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.

Sunday was said to be one of the most holy days to bathe in the rivers as part of the festival, and the temporary city, which is constructed four times every 12 years for the festival, saw an attendance of 30 million Hindu pilgrims in one day. more >>