The Narsingi police have booked choreograper Shaik Jani Basha, popularly known as Jani Master under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Wednesday, September 18. Jani has been accused of sexually assaulting a female choreographer who worked alongside him.
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 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 distanced Jani from party activities.
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In the FIR, the survivor stated that she finally resorted to a police complaint as she was unable to get work in the industry anymore. There have been several demands from women in the Telugu industry that the report prepared by a government committee on working conditions of women in the industry be released.