On 18th September, national award-winning Telugu choreographer Shaik Jani Basha famously referred to as Jani Master was booked under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act by the Narsingi police of Cyberabad Special Operation Team (SOT) after a 21-year-old woman accused him of sexual assault. He has been arrested. She served as a junior choreographer for him. The victim alleged in her police complaint that he raped her over a six-year period at her home and during outdoor shoots.
She accused him of sexual harassment, rape and threats on multiple occasions in her complaint with Raidurgam police station which filed a zero First Information Report (FIR) and later transferred it to Narsingi police station. Several sections including sections 376 (2) (punishment for sexual assault), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were invoked against him.
The POCSO Act was later added to the case as she was initially sexually violated by him in 2019 while she was a 16-year-old minor. She unveiled that he offered her a position as his assistant after she appeared in a reality show on television and had been physically and sexually abusing her since then. She further accused his wife of harassing her as well.
The young woman provided the Telangana State Commission for Women with a 40-page written statement detailing her ordeal and supporting documentation after filing a First Information Report (FIR) with the Cyberabad police. The commission’s chairwoman, Nerella Sharada, informed the media on 18th September that it had stepped in and given orders to provide police protection to the young woman.
“The committee has issued orders to provide police protection for the victim and a high-level monitoring committee will also be constituted to investigate such cases in the film industry,” she stated. The commission had taken a record of the girl’s statement and was consulting with legal counsel before moving forward. Addressing the subject of workplace harassment and assault, the official stated that many reasons, including fear of losing one’s job and social disapproval, prevented these incidents from being reported.
“Even if women come out, their professional choices are questioned. We will take this case very seriously and efforts are made for strict implementation of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act in all workplaces, including the constitution of local and internal committees,” she added.
Jani Master has now disassociated himself from his film endeavours but has maintained silence on the accusations. Furthermore, he was asked to leave his position as a member of the Jana Sena Party, which is headed by prominent actor and deputy chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Pawan Kalyan.
Notably, the South entertainment industry has been stormed by multiple accusations of rape since the ouster of the Hema Committee Report which disclosed the shocking truth of sexual assault in the Malayalam film industry. Afterwards, many prominent names have been charged with sexual exploitation by women including actresses. The fire also reached other film industries including Tamil and Telugu.
