Jani Master loses National Award in sexual assault case

The National Awards ceremony is scheduled for October 8 in New Delhi.

On Thursday, the Rangareddy District Court granted interim bail to Jani Master alias Sheikh Jani Basha. He had applied for bail to attend the National Film Awards function and the court allowed his release from October 6 to 10.

The allegations against Jani Master emerged last month when a 21-year-old choreographer accused him of sexual assault. He was arrested by the Cyberabad Police in Goa on September 19 and subsequently remanded to judicial custody for two weeks. On September 25, a Hyderabad court ordered him to be remanded in police custody for another four days.

According to police reports, the victim claims that Jani Master attacked her during a business trip to Mumbai in 2020 and continuously harassed her and threatened her to keep quiet about the incidents.

On September 15, Raidurgam police filed a zero first information report (FIR) and the case was later re-registered at Narsingi police station.

Jani Master was charged with rape, criminal intimidation and assault. During investigation, it emerged that the victim was a minor at the time of the alleged offenses, which led to the invocation of Section 5(l) read with Section 6 of the POCSO Act.

The victim, now 21, said the attacks took place several times in different cities, including Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad. She met Jani Master in 2017 and became his assistant in 2019.