Choreographer Jani Master – who has worked on dance sequences in big-ticket films like ‘Baahubali’ and ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ – has been arrested after a 21-year-old employee accused him of sexual harassment over several years, including when she was a minor.Jani- suspended by the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce and a workers’ union – was taken into custody in Bengaluru and will be shifted to Hyderabad, NDTV was informed Thursday.
On Tuesday, actor Jhansi, the Chairperson of the Chamber’s panel to probe sexual harassment claims told NDTV the allegations against Master – rape and criminal intimidation – will attract charges under the stringent POCSO, or Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The young woman has said she first met Master at an event in 2017.
Two years later he offered her a job as an assistant choreographer, which she accepted. The alleged sexual assaults took place subsequently.