A Hyderabad court on Wednesday sent celebrity choreographer Jani Master to police custody for four days for questioning on the alleged sexual assault on a junior female choreographer.
While pronouncing the orders on the police petition, the Rangareddy district special POCSO Court directed that no third-degree methods should be used during questioning.
The court asked police to question the accused in the presence of his lawyer.
Following the court order, a police team went to Chanchalguda Central Jail to take him into custody.
Officials from Narsingi police station of Cyberabad police commissionerate will question Jani Master alias Sheik Jani Basha till September 28.
The police had arrested Jani Master in Goa on September 19 and after obtaining a transit warrant from a local court, brought him to Hyderabad. The next day he was produced before Upperpally court, which sent him judicial remand for 14 days.
The Raidurgam police of Cyberabad on September 15 booked a zero First Information Report (FIR) on a complaint by the victim. Subsequently, the case was re-registered at Narsingi Police Station.
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 accused was booked for rape, criminal intimidation and assault under sections 376 (2) (n), 506 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code. As the victim disclosed that, at the time of the offence, she was a minor, police added Section 5 (l) r/w 6 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act to the charges.
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 she became an assistant to him in 2019.