Rape accused dance choreographer Jani Master arrested from Goa

The Cyberabad police on Thursday, September 19, detained dance choreographer Shaik Jani Basha, popularly known as Jani Master, who is accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Jani was apprehended in Goa and produced before a local court. The police have obtained a transit warrant and he is being brought to Hyderabad, the Cyberabad police informed through a press release.

Jani was first booked under sections 376 (2) (punishment for sexual assault), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. The POCSO clauses were also added as Jani is accused of assaulting the 21-year-old survivor from 2019, when she was just 16 years old.

The complaint was registered on September 11 at the Raidurgam station, in a sealed cover as the survivor was a minor when the crime took place. Following the registration of the zero FIR, the case was shifted to Narsingi police station. Jani Master, a member of Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party, is a national award winning choreographer. Following the FIR, Jana Sena directed him to distance himself from party activities.

Also Read: ⁠JSP bars choreographer Jani Master from party activities after sexual assault case

The survivor said that she joined as Jani’s assistant in 2019. And when they went for a shoot to Mumbai, Jani allegedly sexually assaulted her in a hotel. He further threatened her not to inform anyone failing which she would be fired and “wouldn’t be allowed to work in the industry anymore.”

She also alleged that she was sexually harassed and repeatedly assaulted in every shoot by Jani. If she refused to please him sexually, he would abuse and harass her “mentally and physically,” she alleged. On the shooting spot he would often touch her inappropriately in front of others.