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Commune leader Aravindan Balakrishnan guilty of child cruelty Maoist cult leader guilty of child cruelty and sexual assaults
(35 minutes later)
Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan has been found guilty of child cruelty and falsely imprisoning his daughter by a jury at Southwark crown court. Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan has been found guilty of child cruelty and falsely imprisoning his daughter.
The 75-year old, who led a secretive Maoist commune in south London from 1975 to 2013 after emigrating from Singapore, was also convicted of the rape and sexual assault of two other cult members. He faces up to life in prison. The 75-year old, who led a secretive commune in south London from 1975 to 2013 after emigrating from Singapore, was also convicted of four charges of raping members of his sect, six charges of indecent assault and two charges of assault.
Judge Deborah Taylor told Balakrishnan at Southwark crown court: “You should expect a substantial custodial sentence.” She ordered a psychiatric report ahead of sentencing on 29 January 2016.
Josephine Herivel, one of two women who left the commune with Balakrishnan’s daughter in 2013, stood up and declared: “You are sending an innocent man to prison. Shame on you.”
The verdicts follow a two-year police investigation into a case which Scotland Yard detectives described as “completely unique”.The verdicts follow a two-year police investigation into a case which Scotland Yard detectives described as “completely unique”.
Balakrishnan’s daughter, who cannot be named, spent her entire life until the age of 30 effectively imprisoned in the commune ruled over by her father, who insisted on being called Comrade Bala and threatened that “everybody who leaves dies”. She only escaped in October 2013 and told police she was regularly beaten by Balakrishnan, who taught her to believe he was God. He lied to her, claiming her father was a dead freedom fighter and that her mother died in childbirth. In fact, her mother was inside the commune with her until she died in 1997 after falling from a window. Balakrishnan’s daughter, who cannot be named, spent her entire life until the age of 30 effectively imprisoned in the commune, ruled over by her father, who insisted on being called Comrade Bala and threatened that “everybody who leaves dies”. She escaped in October 2013 and told police she was regularly beaten by Balakrishnan, who taught her to believe he was God. He lied to her, claiming her father was a dead freedom fighter and that her mother died in childbirth. In fact, her mother was inside the commune with her until she died in 1997 after falling from a window.
Balakrishnan’s daughter escaped with two other women from a house in Peckford Place, Brixton, sparking a police investigation during which two more of his victims came forward. A British woman, now 64, said she was inside the cult from 1979 to 1989, and a Malaysian woman who was involved from 1977 to 1992, both alleged Balakrishnan beat, raped and sexually assaulted them. Balakrishnan’s daughter escaped with two other women from a house in Peckford Place, Brixton, sparking a police investigation during which two more of his victims came forward. A British woman, who is now 64 and said she was inside the cult from 1979 to 1989, and a Malaysian woman, who was involved from 1977 to 1992, both alleged Balakrishnan beat, raped and sexually assaulted them.
DCS Tom Manson of the Met’s organised crime command praised the “courage” of the victims for testifying despite the “torment and torture” they had endured and, in the case of Balakrishnan’s daughter, “the stealing of her childhood”. DCS Tom Manson, of the Metropolitan police’s organised crime command, praised the courage of the victims for testifying despite the “torment and torture” they had endured and, in the case of Balakrishnan’s daughter, “the stealing of her childhood”.
Balakrishnan established the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought at 140 Acre Lane, Brixton, in 1975 and turned it into a secretive cult in which he led a small group of no more than 10 women in what he believed was preparation for China to take over the world and create “an international dictatorship of the proletariat”. Balakrishnan established the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought at 140 Acre Lane, Brixton, in 1975 and turned it into a secretive cult in which he led a small group of about 10 women in what he believed was preparation for China to take over the world and create “an international dictatorship of the proletariat”.