Police won’t arrest Aishah if she returns

The IGP confirms the identity of the woman held as a slave in the UK as Siti Aishah Wahab and says she would not be apprehended despite being a wanted figure in the 70s.

UPDATED

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian police today confirmed that the woman held as a slave in the UK for three decades was Siti Aishah Wahab.

“Siti Aishah was wanted in the 70s because she was an extremist. However, when we learnt that she had moved to London, we just kept tabs on her,” said Inspector General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar, at a press conference today.

He also said that Siti Aishah may have switched her nationality as she had lived abroad for a long time.

Khalid also said that the police would not apprehend her if she decides to return to Malaysia, as her activities were of the past.

Siti Aishah is said to be a brilliant student, who worked her way up to earn a scholarship to study in London in the 60s. She reportedly moved to UK in 1968 with her fiance Omar Munir after a fallout with her family.

Siti Aishah is believed to have been influenced by Maoist movement led by India-born Aravindan Balakrishnan and his Tanzanian wife, Chandra Pattni.

The political collective was infamous in London for its extreme views and was one of the leading bodies in many student protests with many of its supporters made up of Malaysians, fleeing home after a crackdown on radicals.

Aravindan and Chandra were detained by the UK authorities on Nov 21 for allegedly keeping the women against their will. They have been released on bail.

Siti Aishah’s sister has left for London yesterday to see her, vowing that she would not return without talking to her sister who has been out of touch with the family for years.

Old footage

Yesterday, a British-based media organisation claimed that it has a footage of the three women kept as slaves for 30 years by Aravindan.

The footage, taken in 1997 by ITV News, shows several reporters attempting to get some comments from the women, following the death of a fellow group member in the housing area.

In the video, a Caucasian woman, believed to be Josephine Herival, is seen launching a tirade against the reporters.

The 57-year-old Irish woman is believed the the daughter John Herival, a brilliant army mathematician employed by the British army to break German military ciphers during World War 2.

A bespectacled lady seen shutting the door on the reporters, after saying, “We don’t want to talk to you,” is believed to be Siti Aishah.

The video is available here