Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan has been convicted in a London court of four counts of rape and two of assault after imprisoning his daughter for 30 years.
The 75-year-old, known as Comrade Bala, was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of raping his female cult members and abusing and falsely imprisoning his daughter.
An immigrant from Singapore, Balakrishnan came to the United Kingdom in 1963 and went on to study at the London School of Economics. He developed a fanatical commitment to left-wing politics establishing the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought in 1970.
The court heard from a former follower that Balakrishnan wanted “a cadre of women soldiers who could withstand the sugar-coated bullets of bourgeois culture.”
But the institute quickly descended into a superstitious cult, with Balakrishnan telling his followers he had God-like powers and they would be destroyed by a supernatural force named Jackie if they disobeyed him.
In total, around 10 women were involved in the cult. Balakrishnan’s followers were indoctrinated with the belief that China was going to take over the world and create “an international dictatorship of the proletariat.” Several women suffered physical and mental abuse during their time with the cult.
Davies died on Christmas Eve in 1996 after falling from a window at the cult’s home. Balakrishnan’s daughter was never told that Davies was her mother, and suffered an austere childhood where she was banned from going to school or making friends. The only books the cult members were allowed to read were left-wing texts, according to the BBC.
“If I hadn’t died from diabetes I would have committed suicide because I just couldn’t bear feeling like that anymore,” she told the court.”I just had enough. I didn’t want to live like an animal anymore.”
Judge Deborah Taylor told Balakrishnan that he faced a “substantial custodial sentence.”
In a bizarre interview on Britain’s Channel 4, former Balakrishnan follower Josephine Herivel said he had been framed.
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