Supreme Court noted that Atul Rai had that 16 criminal cases pending against him.

Newly elected Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) lawmaker Atul Rai, who has been accused of rape, surrendered in a court in Varanasi on Saturday.

The judicial magistrate (first) remanded Rai in 14-day judicial custody.

An FIR was registered against Atul Rai on May 1 on a complaint by a college student who had alleged that he took her home on the pretext of meeting his wife but sexually assaulted her.

Atul Rai, who has denied the rape allegations, had been on the run since the lodging of the FIR.

The parliamentarian from the Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh was declared absconder by the local court.

The Supreme Court had on May 27 refused to grant Atul Rai protection from arrest in the rape case while noting that 16 other criminal cases were pending against him.