Satara (Maharashtra), April 8 (IANS) Laxman Mane, a runaway former lawmaker and Marathi writer accused by six women of rape, surrendered to police here Monday evening, an official said.
“Mane surrendered in Satara rural police station. He has been arrested,” Satara Superintendent of Police K.M. Prasanna told IANS.
A fortnight ago, rape cases were registered against Mane after women working in an Ashram school complained to police. The school was being run by Mane in Jakatwadi village in Satara district, 250 km from Mumbai.
Mane, 63, a former Maharashtra legislative council member, will be presented before a court for remand, Prasanna said.
Among the complainants are helpers, peons and cooks who were working in his school.
Mane was honoured with a Padma Shri four years ago and the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award for his autobiography “Upara” in 1981.
Police said that initially three married women aged between 30 and 35 alleged that the writer raped them on the pretext of making them permanent employees of his school, but later reneged on his word.
The trio had claimed that Mane raped them between 2003 and 2010 in the school, at his home in Satara, and at a guest house in Pune.
As the case got wide publicity, three more women came forward and registered complaints against him in the past few days.
After booking Mane for rape, police visited his home and other places in Pune and Mumbai, but he remained untraceable till he surrendered.
Mane’s family has denied the allegations and said that he was being framed.
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