Add Category
Sian Davies died after falling from a second-story bathroom window at a housed leased by Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda in 1977. Picture: ITV Source: Supplied
BRITISH police have charged a 74-year-old man who allegedly held three women against their will in a London house for 30 years.
Police said Aravindan Balakrishnan was charged with 25 offences including false imprisonment, rape, indecent assault and cruelty to a person under 16 years old.
RELATED: CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES STATEMENT
The charges relate to three women who were freed last year after decades of alleged “emotional control†and domestic servitude in Brixton, a district of South London.
The child cruelty charge alleges Mr Balakrishnan “wilfully ill-treated, assaulted, and neglected the said child, in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering to the said child or injury to its healthâ€.
Footage of Aravindan Balakrishnan, also known as Comrade Bala, has emerged from 1997 Source: Supplied
It is also alleged he “unlawfully and injuriously imprisoned†a woman between 1983 until 1999.
“The CPS has today authorised the police to charge Aravindan Balakrishnan on a number of counts including false imprisonment, cruelty to a person under 16 years, indecent assault and rapeâ€, said Anthony Connell, senior prosecutor at the Child Protective Services.
“After careful consideration we have decided that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.
“May I remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against the defendant have been commenced and of his right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
Balakrishnan, known as “Comrade Bala,†led an obscure Maoist collective in the late 1970s. He was arrested in November 2013 along with along with his wife, Chanda Pattni, 67, who was released without charge in September.
Prosecutors said there was “insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction†to charge Mrs Pattni.
Police said Balakrishnan shared a political ideology with the three victims, who were reportedly a 69-year-old Malaysian, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old Briton.
He is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court in London on December 17.