Lambeth slavery case

On November 21, 2013, Metropolitan Police from the Human Trafficking Unit arrested two suspects at a residential address in Lambeth, South London — a 73-year-old non-British man, Aravindan Balakrishnan and an unnamed 67-year-old non-British woman, believed to be his wife Chanda Balakrishnan,^[3] were placed under investigation into slavery and domestic servitude.^[3][4] Three women – a 69-year-old Malaysian woman (later revealed to be Aishah Wahab),^[1] a 57-year-old Irish woman (Josephine Herivel) and a 30-year-old British woman (Rosie Davies) were rescued from the same residence on October 25, 2013.^[4]

Imprisonment and rescue

The two older victims are believed to have met the male suspect in London through, according to police, a shared political ideology,^[5] as he was the former leader of the Workers' Institute of Marxism–Leninism–Mao Zedong Thought.^[6] The women weren't physically restrained, but according to police were held by "invisible handcuffs" after being subjected to brainwashing, emotional abuse and physical abuse by their captors.^[7] The three women, who are not related, are said to have been held captive for more than 30 years with the youngest of the three thought to have spent her whole life in servitude.^[8] However it has not yet been established if she was born in the house from where she was rescued.^[8] The police were tipped off by Freedom Charity who contacted police following a phone call they had received on 18 October where a woman had phoned to say she'd been held unwillingly for more than 30 years.^[7][9] Aneeta Prem of Freedom Charity confirmed that the Irishwoman made contact with the charity after watching the ITV television documentary Forced to Marry about forced marriage in the United Kingdom.^[9][10] The women, who are said to be "highly traumatised", are now in safe accommodation.^[8]

The two suspects were bailed until April 2014,^[11] and were unable to return to the three-bedroom flat they rented from a housing association.^[5]

On 11 December 2014, it emerged that Aravindan Balakrishnan had been charged with offences relating to cruelty to a person under 16, 4 counts of rape and 17 counts of indecent assault. Balakrishnan will appear before Westminster magistrates on 17 December.^[12] No further action is to be taken against his wife, Chanda Pattni, who was released earlier in 2014, as there is "insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction."^[13]

References