Two men have been arrested in the Indian state of Bihar for allegedly raping a woman who was bathing in the Ganges, in a case that has provoked widespread disgust in a country used to appalling incidents of sexual violence.

Police said the suspects took turns to assault the 45-year-woman, who had been bathing in an area called Simar Ghat on Sunday morning, and filmed her ordeal. The footage was then widely shared on social media.

In the video, the two men are allegedly seen dragging the woman from the water and raping her, ignoring her as she appeals to them to respect the sanctity of the “mother” river. The Ganges is worshipped as a goddess by many Hindus.

Police said the woman had not reported the attack and they had learned about it only when the video spread online. Officials told the Times of India the woman continued to resist lodging a report even after police arrived at her home.

“She had completely suppressed the ordeal faced on Sunday and told no one,” said the local deputy police commissioner, Anand Kumar. “It was only after persuading her for a long time that she became ready to give her statement.”

The alleged attackers and victim are from the same village. Police told the Guardian the woman’s statement had been recorded on video to prevent her from being pressured to recant by others in the community.

They said they had been unable to find the video on the arrested men’s phones but were conducting forensic tests to see if it had been deleted.

Sexual violence has become a national issue since the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a Delhi student triggered protests across the country. Official statistics show there were nearly 39,000 reported rapes in India in 2016. Some surveys suggest more than 99% of sexual violence cases are never referred to police.

A report from Human Rights Watch last year said India’s laws on sexual violence had improved. Regressive practices, for example the so-called “two-finger test” used to determine the virginity of assault victims, had been scrapped. But it said police and community leaders were still failing to implement the changes in many jurisdictions, especially those in rural areas.