Hyderabad: BJP state mahila morcha chief Shilpa Reddy on Wednesday, September 18, accused Tollywood choreographer Shaik Jani Basha, known as Jani ‘Master,’ of “love jihad” after he allegedly entrapped a 21-year-old woman and subjected her to five years of torture.
Reddy called for severe consequences, citing Jani Master’s criminal past, including a 2019 court sentence for assaulting a woman in 2015.
The BJP leader criticized the state government for allegedly delaying the investigation and shielding the accused, who is reportedly in Nellore. Reddy also suggested that influential figures in the film industry and the ruling party might be involved in protecting Jani Master.
She criticized chief minister A Revanth Reddy for explaining the lack of progress in the case and urged him to consider it as a “love jihad” incident. She also accused Revanth Reddy of overseeing an increase in rape cases under his leadership.
Earlier, a case was registered based on a complaint lodged by a 21-year-old woman who had previously worked with Shaik Jani Basha. According to the complaint, the accused choreographer had been sexually assaulting the victim since 2019, including forcefully coercing the victim into sex and threatening her not to tell anyone, while she was travelling for work with the accused and her parents away from her.
The complaint accused Jani Master of multiple instances of sexual assault, public harassment, coercion to marry and convert, career threats, property damage, and criminal intimidation. The accused was also named the choreographer’s wife in the complaint, accusing her of physically attacking the victim.
Tollywood choreographer Jani Master accused of sexual assault, booked
What is Love Jihad?
Love jihad is a conspiracy theory that accuses Muslim men of intentionally and strategically alluring and entrapping non-Muslim women with the intent to “convert them” to Islam and marry them as part of an “Islamisation project”.
