London slavery case: Suspects 'former Maoist activists'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25084830

A married couple suspected of holding three women as slaves for more than 30 years are former Maoist activists Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda, the BBC understands.

According to national Marxist records they were leading figures at the Mao Zedong Memorial Centre in Acre Lane, Brixton, south London, in the 1970s.

Officers said the women had suffered years of "physical and mental abuse". They lived together as a "collective" after two of the women met the man through a "shared political ideology".

Records of the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) show Mr Balakrishnan was suspended from the organisation in 1974. He set up a splinter group in the same year called The Workers' Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought. It was based at Acre Lane, Brixton. The building was used as a bookshop and political commune.