Man denies imprisoning Irish woman and others for 30 years

Far-left political activist ‘Comrade Bala’ denies 25 offences, including four counts of rape

A Maoist sect leader has denied raping and imprisoning three female followers – including one Irish woman – for more than 30 years.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, (74), is said to have kept three women as slaves in his home.

The far-left political activist, known as “Comrade Bala”, denies 25 offences, including four counts of rape and one of false imprisonment.

He also denies 19 counts of indecent assault and one of cruelty to a person under the age of 16. He was arrested at his home in Brixton, south London, in November 2013, with his wife Chanda Pattni, known as "Comrade Chanda". His wife was released and no further action was taken against her.

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Appearing at London’s Southwark Crown Court, the short and grey-haired political activist wore a blue jacket, beige cardigan and scarf and glasses.

Balakrishnan, of Edmonton, north London, spoke only to confirm his name and enter not guilty pleas one by one.

He repeatedly shook his head as the allegations were put to him.

The alleged offences relate to three women, one Irish, one British, and a Malaysian.

They are said to have taken place between January 1980 and October 2013. Balakrishnan moved to Britain from Malaysia in the late 1960s and became leader of an obscure Maoist collective in the late 1970s.

Described as a “guru”, Balakrishnan set up a communist squat, the Mao Zedong Memorial Centre, in Brixton in 1976.

It was there where he and his wife ran their group, the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung Thought, holding lectures and film evenings.

Police said he shared a political ideology with three others, allegedly held in a house for decades as part of a political “collective”.

The case hit the headlines in November 2013 after one of the women rang a charity claiming she had been held against her will, sparking a police inquiry.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police’s human trafficking unit said at the time that the case was “completely unique” in their experience.