HYDERABAD: A special POCSO court on Wednesday granted the police four-day custody of Tollywood choreographer Shaikh Jani Basha, popularly known as Jani Master.
The national award winner, who was in judicial remand at the Chanchalguda prison, would be in police custody till Saturday. Narsingi police will investigate a rape case registered against him.
Jani is accused of raping his former assistant choreographer on multiple occasions from the time she was a minor. The survivor, who is currently 21-years-old, alleged that Jani also harassed her and criminally intimidated her over a period of four years.
Based on her complaint, the police registered a case against Jani. The choreographer, initially absconding, was later traced by the Cyberabad Special Operations Team in Goa last Thursday. He was then brought to Hyderabad on a transit warrant and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
According to the remand diary, the accused raped the 21-year-old for the first time in January 2020 in a hotel room in Mumbai. She was 16 at that time. Later, Jani allegedly told the survivor to not tell anyone about the offence, with threats of firing her and using his influence to deny her any further opportunities in the film industry.
According to the survivor, Jani also forced her to convert her religion and marry him. She also accused the choreographer of raping her at her home in Narsingi. After hearing the custody petition filed by the police, the court has now granted custody of Jani for further questioning and investigation purposes.
First raped asst choreographer in Mumbai: Police
According to the remand diary, the accused raped the 21-year-old for the first time in January 2020 in a hotel room in Mumbai. She was 16 at that time. The survivor alleged that Jani also forced her to convert her religion in order to marry him. She also accused the choreographer of raping her at her home in Narsingi