Speculation and sensationalism: Telugu media’s outrageous coverage of Jani Master rape case

Telugu actor Jhansi’s visibly irritated tone wasn’t lost on the reporters covering the September 17 press meet. She was angry with the media’s coverage of the sexual assault case involving choreographer Shaik Jani Basha, popularly known as Jani Master. “You reported on the woman’s real life as if it were the plot of an interesting movie,” Jhansi snapped.

Members of the Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce’s internal committee, including Jhansi, had organised the press conference with one clear motive in mind: to announce their support for the complainant and to show there would be no special treatment accorded to Jani.

Jani has choreographed several popular songs like Butta Bomma starring Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde, and Arabic Kuthu starring Vijay and Pooja Hegde. In August this year, he won the national award for best choreography for the song Megham Karukaatha in Thiruchitrambalam, which starred actor Dhanush.

This story holds immense significance for not just the Telugu states but the cinegoing audience at large. Following the release of the Hema Committee report, which probed sexual misconduct allegations in the Malayalam film industry, the public discourse is rife with similar instances in several movie industries, the potential culpability of male actors perched atop a pedestal, and the status of women in cinema. In this regard, the Telugu film industry has been largely unshaken despite several women voicing concerns of casting couch, harassment, and discrimination in the past. Casting couch is a euphemism for sexual harassment in the film industry.

Things, however, changed for the Telugu-speaking landscape on Monday, September 16, after a 21-year-old woman choreographer accused Jani of sexual assault. The Raidurgam police booked Jani under various sections. The case is still under investigation. But the media trial commenced soon after the news broke on Monday, and to everyone’s chagrin, the 21-year-old faced the brunt of it.

“Reporters aggressively knocked on the doors of her residence, barged into her house. This is clearly stalking. A few channels broadcasted her photos, which is in complete violation of media ethics,” Bhumika Women’s Collective secretary Kondaveeti Satyavati told TNM. Bhumika was assisting the survivor in handling the case through the appropriate legal channels. The All India Feminist Alliance (Telangana) also echoed these concerns and demanded that the Telugu media stop the ‘unbecoming and unethical conduct of naming and shaming the survivor of sexual assault.’

Such broadcasts do more than just violate media ethics. They fly in the face of Supreme Court-issued guidelines when it comes to gender-sensitive reporting. More so in a case involving sexual assault, with the complainant alleging that the assault started when she was 16 years old. The channels are also liable to legal action under Section 228(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 72(1) of the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which prohibits disclosing the identity of a sexual assault survivor.

In fact, Section 228(A) was inserted in the IPC by the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1983, to prevent social victimisation of the victim of a sexual offence. The proposed idea behind this was to save the victim from the post-offence atrocities of society, which came in the form of ridicule and social isolation.

Satyavati’s criticism was also voiced by Jhansi at the press conference held in the Telugu Film Chamber’s headquarters in Hyderabad’s Filmnagar. “While we want the media to publicise this issue and take it forward, we have noticed that several media channels are putting out the survivor’s picture. If need be, I can provide you with the media guidelines (pertaining to sexual assault reporting), but it seems unnecessary to do that with journalists who have been reporting for ages,” Jhansi said mockingly.

When TNM met with Narsingi police station’s house officer, Inspector Hari Krishna Reddy, he outright stated that he wouldn’t engage with the media. “They have sufficiently scared the survivor. I cannot compromise her dignity or the investigation further by speaking to the media. She now refuses to come to the police station as part of the investigation,” he said. The case has been transferred from Raidurgam to Narsingi police station as the victim resides under its limits.

The insensitive coverage

The insensitivity of the media wasn’t limited to hounding the survivor. When news of the Raidurgam police registering the zero FIR broke on Monday, September 16, Telugu media wasted no time in abandoning doubt and putting forth its most vociferous male anchors to speculate on the ‘validity’ of the case.

Mahaa News’ managing director Vamsi Krishna spent time on air wondering why the survivor did not approach the police for five years. “If Jani Master misbehaved, action should be taken. But we also saw Raj Tarun and Lavanya’s case where everything blew up,” he said, referring to actor Lavanya, who approached the Narsingi police with a case of adultery against her live-in partner actor Raj Tarun. This news dominated the Telugu news cycle in July-August 2024, with Lavanya regularly speaking to the media.

Vamsi, incredulously enough, attempted to equate adultery with sexual assault and then equated a rape survivor to a woman in the middle of an alleged domestic dispute. The sexual assault coverage got worse as Vamsi spoke to a reporter who was updating him on the details of the FIR. Vamsi seemed amused and laughed before dubbing the issue ‘inka oka gola’ (one more drama).

That the survivor went ahead with a complaint years later was pointed out by many anchors almost as if to suggest that she must be lying.

The Supreme Court’s handbook on combating gender stereotypes is clear on falling prey to such a stereotype. “It takes courage and strength to report a sexual offence because of the stigma attached to them. The stigma attached to sexual violence makes it difficult for women to disclose the incident to others. Women may therefore register a complaint after a lapse of some time, when she thinks she is able to,” it reads.

TV5 Telugu’s anchor Shiva also adopted a similar approach to Vamsi’s. “Is this an actual case of misconduct? Or is it a ploy orchestrated by choreographers who are jealous of Jani? Is the woman being used by those who are jealous of Jani’s success?” he wondered. Shiva went on to praise Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan for distancing Jani, a member of JSP, from party activities. TV5 Telugu and Mahaa News are channels understood to favour the Telugu Desam Party, a party Jana Sena is in an alliance with.

The thumbnails and headlines of several videos remain an eyesore, with very little regard for the severity of a rape case. 10TV’s headline in Telugu can be translated as ‘Jani, Jani, What is this?’, evidently referencing the ‘Johnny Johnny’ nursery rhyme about a child eating sugar.

Telugu Popular TV’s thumbnail read, ‘This is the actual conspiracy against Jani’. The channel also interviewed producer Chitti Babu, who said that it was “fashionable for women to accuse men of sexual assault.” 10TV News’s headline asked if Jani was “desperate because he was the president,” referencing Jani’s position as the president of the choreographers union.

RTV’s headline read, ‘He entered the van, took his trousers off’. Another thumbnail from RTV read, ‘This is the real story behind Jani and the girl. Basheer tells the truth’. Basheer is another choreographer in the Telugu industry.

Channels put up the pictures of the survivor with her face blurred out. However, the distinct clothing and jewellery worn by the survivor were enough to identify her.

TV9 Telugu, Mahaa News, and ABN Andhra Jyothi displayed the photos alongside a video of Jani in a dance rehearsal with the survivor with her face blurred out. 10TV used a black strip to cover the survivor’s eyes, which did nothing to mask her identity.

Other media outlets like Nakshatra News, Wild Wolf News, and Always Cinema – with 84,000, 16 lakh, and 8.11 lakh subscribers – went a step further. While blurring her face, they had no qualms in adding her name to the headline of their videos.

Several channels also employed fast-paced music, which undercut the seriousness of sexual assault. The music played on as an anchor reeled one speculation after another, a matter that wasn’t lost on the internal panel constituted by the film chamber.

“Instead of treating it like a case of sexual assault, the media has covered the issue like the plot of a trendy movie. It’s a woman’s real life, and it is not okay to do this. What is the point of our attempts to maintain her privacy?” Jhansi asked. In response to a reporter’s statement that these concerns of privacy should have been voiced earlier, producer Damodar Prasad, also a member of the panel, sarcastically remarked, “Consider it our amayakatvam (innocence). We did not know that we have to inform the media about not putting the woman’s pictures out. We will do so in the future,” he said.

Across channels, reporters did not attempt to ask activists assisting on the case about whether the survivor has sought legal remedies, if the film chamber was well poised to deal with this case, and if the survivor finds herself in a position where her employment is threatened. The coverage revolved around either the survivor being a liar, the extent of the violence, or how noble Jana Sena was in distancing Jani, pending an enquiry.

The coverage remains alarming for several viewers, more so women, who desperately need society to take sexual assault cases seriously. Media trivialising and bandying about a systemic problem like assault does little to help any survivor, least of all the 21-year-old who still has a lone, legal battle to wage.

This story has been republished from The News Minute as part of The News Minute-Newslaundry alliance. Subscribe now and power our work.