Veteran politician remembers Siti Aishah, doubts slave claim

Syed Husin describes Siti Aishah as 'pretty' and 'very intelligent'. - The Malaysian Insider pic, November 28, 2013.A PKR senator has cast doubt as to whether the Malaysian woman recently rescued by British police from a London house was subjected to enslavement as widely claimed.

Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation, former PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali said Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab was one of "two to three Malay girls" who were with the Maoist cell in the 1960s, and recalled that two of them had returned to Malaysia to work.

"I am rather sceptical about enslavement," said Syed Husin.

"That group back then, was a very centralised ideology, it tends to control its members, even in association with others, that could have happened to her," he said, referring to his student days in London from 1966 to 1968.

The veteran politician described Siti Aishah, then in her early twenties, as "pretty" and "very intelligent", adding that she was loyal to her friends and the group.

Siti Aishah was among three women, the others being 30-year-old Rosie Davis and a 57-year-old Irish woman, rescued by British police on October 25 from a home in London's Lambeth district. The British media reported that the three women had been enslaved by a Maoist cell.

The AFP reported that the police were interviewing the three women.

"We are moving to a point where we will be able to interview the victims and our plan is actually to do so today," said Commander Steve Rodhouse of London's Metropolitan Police yesterday, adding that the interviews would be conducted by "specialists" experienced in dealing with people subjected to trauma.

"We're working to that advice of those experts as to how best to handle those victims," he was quoted as saying.

Recalling his years in London, Syed Husin said he had met the couple arrested by British police, Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda.

He said when he first heard news of their arrest, he suspected that the "Malaysian slave" could have been Siti Aishah, as she was one of two or three Malay girls with the group then.

"The two had broken away from the group," he said.

On Tuesday, Siti Aishah's sister, Kamar Mahtum, left for London hoping to reunite with her long lost sibling.