Rangareddy District Court in Hyderabad on Thursday granted interim bail to celebrity choreographer Jani Master who was arrested last month for alleged sexual assault on a junior female colleague.
The choreographer had sought bail to attend the National Film Awards function. The court granted him bail from October 6 to October 10. Jani Master alias Sheik Jani Basha is set to receive the National Film Award for his choreography in the song Megham Karukkatha from the film Thiruchitrambalam.
Last month, a 21-year-old female choreographer accused Jani Master of sexual assault. Cyberabad police had arrested him in Goa on September 19 and a court in Hyderabad remanded him to judicial custody for two weeks. The court on September 25 sent him to police custody for four days.
According to police, the victim alleged that Jani Master sexually assaulted her in 2020 during a work trip to Mumbai and continued sexual harassment and threatened not to disclose to anyone. The Raidurgam police of Cyberabad on September 15 booked a zero First Information Report (FIR). Subsequently, the case was re-registered at Narsingi Police Station
The accused was booked for rape, criminal intimidation and assault under sections 376 (2) (n), 506 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code. Police said on recording the victim’s statement it was disclosed that at the time of the offence, she was a minor. Therefore, section 5 (l) r/w 6 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act was invoked.
The victim, now 21, alleged that the choreographer sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions in different cities, including Chennai, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. The complainant told police that she came in contact with the choreographer in 2017 and became an assistant to him in 2019.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from IANS
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