Beijing, Sep 26 (IANS): A Chinese man who runs a website that raises money for rural girls in education has been taken into custody after allegations of rape came to light, the local authorities have said.

Wang Jie, who established the charity website in 2006, is accused of raping several underage girls, Xinhua news agency quoted the Longlin government as saying on Friday.

Guangxi media uncovered the crime on August 13, alleging that over the past nine years Wang had forced girls to have sex with him and some donors in return for education grant. Local police detained Wang immediately after the show aired.

Wei Xing, head of the county's public security bureau, called on all the victims and their families to come forward if they had any information.

Wu Zaijie, deputy head of the county's education bureau, said the government had offered education grants worth $6,250 to ten of the victims.

"The website was not registered with the authorities," said Yang Chaofang, deputy head of the local civil affairs department.

"There is no particular law banning fundraising websites. We hope the government will strengthen supervision to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again," said Du Peirong, a lawyer.