Choreographer Johnny Master – whose real name is Shek Johnny Basha and who works primarily in the Telugu and Tamil film industry – has been accused of sexual harassment by a 21-year-old female employee.
Police in Telangana's Raya Durgam have registered a 'zero' FIR, or first information report, based on a complaint by a woman who said Johnny Master, who has also acted in Kannada and Hindi films, Attacked several times, including once in a hotel in Mumbai. .
Chief Inspector Krishna Reddy told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that police officials were trying to contact the woman to record a detailed statement, but she was “unreachable” at the moment.
According to the woman, she met the master at an event in 2017. Two years later he offered her a job as an assistant choreographer which she accepted. The alleged sexual assault happened after that – at a Hotel Master and she and other dancers were staying during a show in Mumbai.
In her complaint, she said that Johnny Master and two other male assistants had gone to Mumbai.
The woman said she usually went with her mother, but not this time as there were no tickets available. She also claimed that Master threatened her if she told anyone about the assault and continued to harass her during the shoot.
According to the complaint, he also forced her to change her religion and marry him.
Over the next few months the master would apparently frequently invite her to his cabin and sexually assault her, threatening to destroy her career if she did not comply each time.
The woman also alleged that the Master appeared at her house on some nights and on one occasion his wife (she was already married) and the Master barged into her room and slapped her.
Meanwhile, acting swiftly to avoid a political backlash, actor-politician Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena party (a member of the BJP-led coalition at the Centre) has ordered the master to stay away from its events.
Master, a member of the Jana Sena, has told local media that he has not been expelled, and has no problem with the instructions of the party leadership.
Jana Sena, the ruling coalition of Andhra Pradesh, has decided to keep Johnny Master away from party activities. The party took the decision on Monday after a case was registered against Johnny Master in Hyderabad, news agency IANS reported.
Jana Sena's dispute management chief V. Ajay Kumar said in a statement that the decision will be effective immediately.
The allegation comes amid upheaval in the Kerala film business after the release of a partially redacted judicial committee report that triggered an avalanche of sexual assault allegations against senior actors and filmmakers. The list also includes M Mukesh, MLA of Kerala's ruling CPI-M.
Popular actors and directors such as Nivin Pauly, Jayasuriya, Mukesh, and Siddique are facing multiple charges of assault and/or rape, and are being investigated by a special police team set up by the Kerala government. are All of them have denied the claims and termed them as “baseless”.
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