UPDATED WITH VIDEO LONDON/ KUALA LUMPUR - Latest news from that the master-mind behind the London 'slavery' scandal believed he was a communist Jesus Christ has shocked readers from around the world, not least in Malaysia, where one of the 3 captives - Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab - originally came from.
According to the London media, a community worker who refused to join the Maoist cult at the centre of the alleged slavery scandal has revealed how its extreme left-wing leader Aravindan Balakrishnan treated his followers like army recruits.
Dudley Heslop, 59, who managed to escape falling under the cult's spell recounted how 'Comrade Bala' took money and property from his followers.
Mr Heslop said 'Comrade Bala' moved into the Battersea house belonging to Sian Davies, the mother of captive Rosie, 30, who died after mysteriously falling from a window in 1997.
The 73-year-old Aravindran Balakrishnan is now accused with his wife Chanda, 67, of holding three women as slaves for three decades. Members of his cult were forced to cut off contact with their families and faced severe discipline if they breached any of his strict rules.
Young women were always at the heart of his revolutionary sect.
'He would say 'I am the Christ follow me', Mr Heslop told the Evening Standard.
'Women abandoned their careers and their futures for him. They would have to put him and the collective before their families.
'He would take the wages of others for the collective, he was in control. They would run errands and things like that.
'He wasn’t holding these women by force, he just kind of got them to believe he was like Jesus Christ.'
The images, from ITV News, show Balakrishnan, also known as Comrade Bala, attending the inquest into the death of commune member Sian Davies in 1997. The two women following him are believed to be the 'slaves'
Meanwhile, a group of Malaysians who knew of Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab's political activities and leanings tried to persuade her to leave the group, but to no avail, reported the New Straits Times.
According Fariddah Ismail Cook, who was doing her Master's in Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Siti Aishah was a familiar sight in the early 1980s, distributing Maoist leaflets on the steps of the university, in her black Mao jacket and trousers.
"Before I met her, I heard about her from an Indonesian couple working at SOAS, who were concerned about her.
"They tried to persuade her, too. So, whenever I was on my way to lectures, I would engage in a discussion with her. Although she was gentle, passive and not at all aggressive in her approach, she was very firm in her beliefs," said Fariddah of the Malaysian woman who is making headlines after her rescue with two other "slaves" of the Maoist cult in South London.
"I know that she was still around in 1981 and 1982. She was always with a group of people -- non-Malaysians. I would say that she was very much led and never the leader. While there were others chanting slogans, she was more in the background, distributing leaflets."
Among the student community at that time, people were aware of Siti Aishah and her political leanings. A group of Malaysians, including the late Abu Bakar Hamzah (a religious scholar and former Pas member), who was then studying here, and his wife and other friends engaged her in discussions and tried to persuade her to return.
But she was a staunch believer in the Maoist doctrine.
"I believe at that point in her life, no one could change her mindset and her political views.
"When I saw her picture in the newspapers, it brought me back to one cold winter day. I still have this image of her on the steps of SOAS, dressed in black Mao jacket, short hair, distributing the leaflets alone.
"Our eyes made contact and I was very sad, thinking how she had turned her back on everything to support this ideology in which there is no place for God," said Fariddah at her home here.
ITV News believes this woman, shown in a 1997 documentary, to be Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab, the 69-year-old Malaysian rescued from the alleged ‘slavery’ house in south London. ITV News
She refused to return to Malaysia
An earlier interview with Siti Aishah's youngest brother, Mohd Tahir, who was then working in London, and his wife, Rahimaton Mohd Hassan, revealed that the former made two visits to their apartment in Bayswater.
Her visits were always accompanied by an Indian man and an Englishwoman, and they were always dressed in Maoist uniform.
Rahimaton said they served Malaysian food to remind her of home.
Rahimaton recalled that Siti Aishah had asked why the maid was not eating with family members, reflecting the communist belief that everyone must be treated equally.
Malaysian high commissioner to the United Kingdom Datuk Seri Zakaria Sulong said everything was being done to assist Siti Aishah.
Now aged 69, Siti Aishah became estranged from her family due to her political leanings and activities in the late 1970s and 1980s. The last contact she had with her family was when she visited her brother, Tahir, working here, in 1982.
Zakaria said the high commission had still not been allowed to meet Siti Aishah. "Police are not willing to divulge any information as investigations are ongoing."
He stressed that they needed to talk to her and establish her nationality immediately.
"If she is still a Malaysian citizen, we will assist to get fresh travel document to return to Malaysia."
Witness: Dudley Heslop who escaped the Maoist Cult with his scrapbook of bulletins and teachings from the Maoist collective
Ex-fiancee
In Kuala Lumpur, Siti Aishah's ex-fiance expressed gladness that she had been found.
"Alhamdulillah (All Praise to Allah) the family has found Siti Aishah Wahab," said Omar Munir.
The message was passed through his daughter, Dayana Omar Munir, when met at his house in Lembah Keramat here yesterday.
"The news was a shock to him and he is not ready to meet anyone yet," said Dayana, who described the 70-year-old professor as a private person. -Malaysia Chronicle/ Agencies/NST
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