A girl (identified in the media by various pseudonyms including Rose Davies and Fran) was born in 1983 to Sian Davies (pictured at right), one of the followers of Aravindan Balakrishnan (pictured at left) and a member of his insular left-wing group, the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought. The girl was kept prisoner inside the group members’ house until her escape at age 30. She was beaten by other members of the group and denied medical care. She was homeschooled by Balakrishnan, who told her she was an orphan and forbade her from singing nursery rhymes or looking out the window.
Balakrishnan regularly beat group members Aishah Wahab and Josephine Herivel in front of the girl, and he sexually assaulted two other group members whose identities have not been released. Davies died in 1997 after a fall from a window, which police are now viewing as suspicious. The abuse came to light in 2013 when Herivel helped the girl escape so that she could seek treatment for her diabetes. Balakrishnan was found guilty of indecent assault, rape, assault, cruelty to a child, and false imprisonment. His wife, Chanda Pattni, was also arrested but was released without charge.
Date: October 25, 2013
Location: Brixton, borough of Lambeth, London, United Kingdom
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