London slavery couple: former 'Maoist activists' named
BBC understands couple arrested on Thursday were once 'leading figures' in Brixton-based group
THE couple arrested in relation to alleged slavery in South London are former Maoist activists Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda, the BBC has reported.
The broadcaster describes the couple as "leading figures at the Mao Zedong Memorial Centre based in Acre Lane, Brixton, in the late 1970s". The Daily Mail claims they were jailed for assaulting a Met officer in 1978.
Balakrishnan, 73, and his 67-year-old wife were arrested on Thursday in relation to three women who were allegedly held as slaves at an address in Brixton, south London for more than 30 years. He is reportedly of Indian origin, while she comes from Tanzania.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Since their arrest, the couple have been linked to 13 addresses in London, the BBC says. The Met has not confirmed or denied the couple's identity.
The BBC says Met officers carried out house-to-house inquiries in and around Peckford Place, Brixton - from where the women were allegedly rescued - over the weekend. It is understood that the couple and the three women lived together as a "collective" after two of the women met the man through a "shared political ideology".
The Daily Mail reports that one of the women, a 30-year-old it calls Rosie, reportedly wrote hundreds of impassioned letters and poems to a neighbour over an eight-year period. Marius Feneck, who lives two floors above the address where the women were allegedly held as slaves, said the woman described how she suffered "unspeakable torment" at the hands of a couple who adopted her when she was a baby after her parents died in a fire.
In another letter allegedly written by the 30-year-old, she said she felt "like a fly trapped in a spider's web..." The woman also posted dozens of photographs of herself to Feneck, which reveal the "cramped, sparsely furnished flat that was her home", the Mail reports.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - November 2, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - anti-fascism, early voter turnout, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest Man
In the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
By The Week UK Published
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliation
Talking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
By The Week UK Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
What is Lammy hoping to achieve in China?
Today's Big Question Foreign secretary heads to Beijing as Labour seeks cooperation on global challenges and courts opportunities for trade and investment
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Britain about to 'boil over'?
Today's Big Question A message shared across far-right groups listed more than 30 potential targets for violence in the UK today
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
UK's Starmer slams 'far-right thuggery' at riots
Speed Read The anti-immigrant violence was spurred by false rumors that the suspect in the Southport knife attack was an immigrant
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The Tamils stranded on 'secretive' British island in Indian Ocean
Under the Radar Migrants 'unlawfully detained' since 2021 shipwreck on UK-controlled Diego Garcia, site of important US military base
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Britain's Labour Party wins in a landslide
Speed Read The Conservatives were unseated after 14 years of rule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Will voter apathy and low turnout blight the election?
Today's Big Question Belief that result is 'foregone conclusion', or that politicians can't be trusted, could exacerbate long-term turnout decline
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published