LUCKNOW: Two days after the Delhi bus gang rape victim breathed her last, crime against women continued unabated in Uttar Pradesh. Two minors were held hostages and raped in Sultanpur and Bareilly districts of the state. Elsewhere, miscreants threw acid on two women in Muzaffarnagar, a doctor tried to rape a patient in Bijnore, a housewife was allegedly molested by her neighbor in Bhadohi while an eight-month pregnant housewife was murdered allegedly by her husband in Bijnore. All incidents have been reported to the police over the past 48 hours on Sunday evening.

A teenaged minor girl was allegedly kidnapped on December 14, by miscreants from Dharauli village in Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh while she was on her way to school. She reached home after escaping from the clutches of the abductors on Saturday and narrated the events that happened during the fortnight as she was held hostage. The family lodged an FIR against three persons in connection with the incident.

Though police were suspicious the victim may have consented to accompany any or all the accused initially and later been held captive and raped, the girl was a minor and her consent had no significance in the eyes of law. Police have registered a rape case against one Raju while his aides Basantlal and Shahabuddin have been charged for criminal conspiracy to rape. The accused were yet to be arrested as they were said to be absconding since the incident came to light.

In a somewhat similar sequence of events reported from Cantonment police circle of Bareilly early Sunday morning, an 11-year-old student of class of class VI at a local school went missing after she left home for school on December 27. After she failed to reach home by evening, her family launched a search. After two days of extensive search, the family came to know that she was last spotted with a youth in the farm field besides the road in the vicinity of the village. After six hours of extensively searching the area, the girl was found gagged and her hands and legs were tied up. The girl was rescued after which she told her family that after she reached school in the morning on December 27, 2012 she came to know that the school has closed because of the sudden drop in temperature.

Usually she returned home with a batch of their students who live in the neighborhood but since the school closure was announced in the morning itself, she was returning all alone when a youth kidnapped her. Apart from being repeatedly raped, the girl was left behind bushes in the farm for two days and two nights under the open winter sky before she was rescued.

On the basis of description of the accused provided by the victim and locals of the area where she was held hostage, her family managed to nab one of the accused identified as Prem Singh of Babhiya village under Cantonment police station of Bareilly. The village is situated close to the hamlet where the girl lives.

In Muzaffarnagar, two women suffered severe burn injuries as masked motorcycle-borne youths threw acid on them in the middle of a busy market place under Kotwali police station of the district. The women, identified later as Usha and Gopi, were rushed to the district hospital where the doctors attending them referred Usha to Meerut after her condition began to deteriorate. The condition of the other girl was stable. Usha had reportedly suffered 60% burns on her face, neck shoulders and upper abdomen while Gopi suffered 45% burns mainly on her neck, face and shoulder.

Police said initial investigations revealed the accused were being followed by two other youths on another motorcycle and their informer network provided them clues that could lead to the arrest of the other duo.

In Bhadohi, a 21-year-old dalit woman was molested by her neighbor in Gopiganj locality. On her complaint, police arrested Ram Sajeevan (25) alias Baba. In Jhansi, a case was lodged with the Bardagaon police station against the doctor of a private clinic in which he was accused of a rape attempt. The complainant, a housewife, said she had visited the doctor for treatment along with two of her family members which the doctor tried to outrage her modesty. Police said investigations were underway into the complaint and action will be initiated against the accused on the basis of the inquiry findings.

In Bijnore, a pregnant woman was allegedly murdered on Saturday evening. Police have detained the woman's husband who was in the car with the victim when the incident took place. The victim had suffered sharp-edged injury wounds on her neck which resulted in her death.

Her husband initially claimed he was driving his wife Hemlata (23) to her parent's house on Nurpur Marg in the city when they were attacked by miscreants, but police were not convinced and suspected that her husband Arvind murdered her. During sustained interrogation Arvind broke down and confessed to his crime. He told police he had married Hemlata in February but was fed-up with the routine marital disputes.