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| Police to interview three women allegedly kept as slaves in Marxist sect | Police to interview three women allegedly kept as slaves in Marxist sect |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Detectives have been given the green light to interview three women allegedly kept as slaves as part of a Marxist sect for three decades. | |
| Commander Steve Rodhouse said experts had advised police the three women were until now not able to face making formal statements of complaint. | Commander Steve Rodhouse said experts had advised police the three women were until now not able to face making formal statements of complaint. |
| A man and a woman were arrested last week over the allegations. The three alleged victims had already been taken to safety weeks earlier after contacting a charity. | |
| The two arrests were in effect made on indirect allegations, passed to police by the charity the three women had contacted. | The two arrests were in effect made on indirect allegations, passed to police by the charity the three women had contacted. |
| Rodhouse said police were investigating a series of allegations, including claims of physical and emotional abuse. | Rodhouse said police were investigating a series of allegations, including claims of physical and emotional abuse. |
| Rodhouse, speaking at a press briefing at New Scotland Yard, said: "The crucial issue for us is that, on the basis of the information that we've had indirectly from victims, clearly criminal offences have been committed. What we need to do now is to understand that in much more detail." | Rodhouse, speaking at a press briefing at New Scotland Yard, said: "The crucial issue for us is that, on the basis of the information that we've had indirectly from victims, clearly criminal offences have been committed. What we need to do now is to understand that in much more detail." |
| Detectives have stressed the unique nature of the case and warned about jumping to conclusions that the case amounted to "modern-day slavery". | |
| Rodhouse said the victims would speak to detetctives on Wednesday. "We have not yet been able to formally interview the victims in this case so we don't fully understand the nature of the allegations," he said. | Rodhouse said the victims would speak to detetctives on Wednesday. "We have not yet been able to formally interview the victims in this case so we don't fully understand the nature of the allegations," he said. |
| "We are moving to a point where we will be able to interview the victims and our plan is actually to do so today. " | "We are moving to a point where we will be able to interview the victims and our plan is actually to do so today. " |
| Television footage from more than a decade ago purportedly shows some of the women, with no obvious signs they were in servitude. | Television footage from more than a decade ago purportedly shows some of the women, with no obvious signs they were in servitude. |
| The three woman are a 30-year-old Briton, a 57-year-old Irish citizen and a 69-year-old Malaysian national. | The three woman are a 30-year-old Briton, a 57-year-old Irish citizen and a 69-year-old Malaysian national. |
| Since leaving an address in Brixton last month, the women have been receiving help and support from trained experts. They are now judged to be sufficiently robust to start making detailed statements and it is expected these may be made over a period of time and in several sessions. | Since leaving an address in Brixton last month, the women have been receiving help and support from trained experts. They are now judged to be sufficiently robust to start making detailed statements and it is expected these may be made over a period of time and in several sessions. |
| Rodhouse said: "The victims are in the care of specialists who have got great experience of dealing with people who have been subject to trauma. We're working to that advice of those experts as to how best to handle those victims, to support them and of course to draw out the evidence we would need to substantiate any prosecution." | Rodhouse said: "The victims are in the care of specialists who have got great experience of dealing with people who have been subject to trauma. We're working to that advice of those experts as to how best to handle those victims, to support them and of course to draw out the evidence we would need to substantiate any prosecution." |
| Rodhouse said police were also interviewing 50 witnesses and ploughing through other material. The number of officers on the investigation has been increased from 37 to 47. | Rodhouse said police were also interviewing 50 witnesses and ploughing through other material. The number of officers on the investigation has been increased from 37 to 47. |
| Those arrested are Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife, Chanda Pattni, who were Marxist activists. Rodhouse added police had no reason to believe that there may have been other victims. | Those arrested are Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife, Chanda Pattni, who were Marxist activists. Rodhouse added police had no reason to believe that there may have been other victims. |
| He added police were reviewing the death in 1997 of Sian Davies, who died after falling from a window from a property used by the group in Herne Hill, London. Detetctives are reviewing papers from the inquest into the death, which returned an open verdict. Rodhouse said there was nothing to suggest that verdict had been wrong. | |
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