FIR against national award-winning choreographer accused of raping colleague

Hyderabad: In the wake of the renewed #MeToo wave in the South African film industry, another serious allegation has emerged against a celebrity who is alleged to have committed a crime against women.

Jani Master, who recently won the National Award for Best Choreographer, has been accused of raping a colleague.

Jani was booked by Cyberabad police for allegedly sexually abusing a 21-year-old dancer with whom he worked for several years.

The complaint filed with Raidurgam police station was later transferred to Narsingi police station in Rangareddy district for jurisdictional reasons.

The dancer claimed that Jani had assaulted her on multiple occasions during their various filming sessions across the country. She complained that Jani had sexually abused her and threatened her with severe consequences if she disclosed the incident to anyone.

“We have registered a case against Jani Master under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Sunday evening and initiated an investigation,” said G Hari Krishna Reddy, Station House Officer (SHO) of Narsingi PS.

An FIR was filed under Section 376 of the IPC, which deals with rape.

Popular Tollywood dance master Jani Master, whose real name is Shaik Jani Basha, is known for his work in recent hit films like ‘Jailer’, ‘Stree 2’ and ‘Double iSmart’.

Jani received the National Award for Best Choreographer for the song “Megham Karigenu” from the Tamil dubbed film “Thiru” starring Dhanush, Nithya Menen and Raashi Khanna.