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Daily Mail
November 22, 2013
Three women allegedly kept prisoner in a house for more than 30 years – including one never allowed to step into the outside world – could be part of a wider slave network, it emerged today.
Detectives are searching the ‘ordinary house’ in Lambeth, south London, for bodies and also hunting for ‘linked addresses’ that may contain others held captive, a police source said.
Two people being questioned after officers rescued three alleged slavery victims, including a 30-year-old woman who spent her whole life in servitude, have been released on bail.
‘There are fears this is part of a wider abduction ring. There is an ongoing search of possible linked addresses, and for any bodies that might be concealed,’ a source said.
A British woman was among three ‘deeply traumatised’ women who were rescued from the ‘ordinary’ house by police.
Police said the woman, the youngest victim, had never been allowed to step into the outside world, and had possibly been born in captivity in the early 1980s.
She fled with a 69-year-old Malaysian and an Irishwoman of 57, who had all allegedly been held in servitude by a couple in their 60s for three decades.
A couple, both 67, were arrested at the house at about 7.30am yesterday as part of the investigation into slavery and domestic servitude.
There were concerns that there may be more victims.
A charity said last night that the victims had suffered physical and mental harm, but not sexual abuse.
They finally managed to escape after the Irishwoman plucked up the courage to phone a charity which arranged their rescue.
She used a secret phone to make contact with the charity.
Detectives said they had never seen a case like it.
Yesterday Scotland Yard swooped on the house in Lambeth, south London, and arrested a couple, both aged 67, on suspicion of enslaving the three women.
The couple were questioned on suspicion of holding the women against their will for more than 30 years.
Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, from the Metropolitan Police’s Human Trafficking Unit, said: ‘This is an extraordinary case.
‘We don’t know whether the 30-year-old was born in the house, but she has spent her whole life, we believe, in this servitude or forced labour.
‘We have had cases where people have been held for up to 10 years, but three decades is unseen before in the United Kingdom.’
Police said the three women were unrelated to each other, but it was unclear if the youngest victim is related to their captors.
They were said to have found the courage to act after watching an ITV Exposure documentary about forced marriages on October 9, which featured an organisation called Freedom Charity, prompting the Irishwoman to call its helpline.
The charity’s founder, Aneeta Prem, said: ‘They were absolutely terrified by the people they were held by.
‘They felt they were in massive danger, but they made a decision to make that phone call. It was very difficult for them.
‘The women are now in a place of safety. Hopefully they will have happy fulfilled lives if they ever get over the trauma.’
The tense operation to rescue the women took place on October 25, but was only revealed yesterday when the arrests happened.
Miss Prem said: ‘It was planned that they would be able to walk out of the property.
‘The police were on standby. They walked out and we were waiting for them.’
The exact location of the house in Lambeth has not been revealed, but Miss Prem said: ‘I don’t believe the neighbours knew anything about it at all.
‘It was an ordinary house in an ordinary street that wouldn’t raise concerns with anybody else.’
She said the women did have their own rooms in the house, but rarely went out and if they did, were always escorted.
It is believed another factor in their decision to break free was realising the elderly couple had become more frail, and the women had turned into their carers.
The victims are so traumatised that police have been unable to interview them fully, and are still unsure of key details of the abuse.
Chief Inspector Hyland said: ‘Their life was greatly controlled and for much of it they would have been kept in the premises.
‘We don’t know whether the 30-year-old was born in the house but the 30-year-old has spent her whole life, we believe, in servitude.
‘It is fair to suggest the 30-year-old had no contact with the outside world that we would see as normal.
‘The fact is she has spent her entire life in the control of this criminal network. We can’t say at the moment whether she is the daughter of the man we’ve arrested.
‘There’s no allegation of sexual abuse.’
A police spokesman added: ‘The women we’re dealing with are deeply, deeply traumatised.
‘As a consequence of that the information from them is coming out very slowly, which is one of the reasons for the delay between the time that we rescued them and the actual arrests yesterday.’
The couple – described as the ‘heads of the family’ – were being questioned at a south London police station last night.
Both are understood to be non-British, but police would not comment on suggestions they were Irish.
