A MAOIST cult leader controlled his followers by claiming he had God-like powers.
Aravindan Balakrishnan, who moved to the UK from Singapore in 1963, said a supernatural force called “Jackie” would destroy them if they tried to leave.
PA:Press AssociationAravindan Balakrishnan controlled his followers by claiming he had God-like powers[/caption]
BBC HandoutHe said a supernatural force called ‘Jackie’ would destroy them if they tried to leave[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationKaty Morgan-Davies was kept as a prisoner by her father Comrade Bala[/caption]
He said “Jackie” could trigger natural disasters if he was disobeyed.
The 5ft communist followed the teachings of China’s Chairman Mao and was jailed for 23 years in 2016.
He was found guilty of multiple sex attacks, cruelty to a child under 16, false imprisonment and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Southwark Crown Court.
Balakrishnan ran the cult, called the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, from a London HQ.
The cult leader named himself Comrade Bala and carried out a “brutal” campaign of violence and “sexual degradation” against women for decades.
He eventually fathered a daughter with one of his brainwashed followers.
Katy Morgan-Davies was freed by anti-slavery charity Freedom in October 2013 after one of the Maoist leader’s followers, Belfast woman Josephine Herivel, contacted them.
Waiving her right to anonymity, Katy told of her disturbed father’s behaviour in their Brixton flat and how he was “horrible, so dehumanising and degrading”.
She said: “I felt like a caged bird with clipped wings.”
Two women died at his flat in Brixton, South London — which Katy dubbed the “dark tower”.
Katy’s mum Sian Davies fell from a window in 1996 and died several months later in hospital.
She said that night she heard screaming and shouting and saw her mum lying in blood and pleading with Bala to “kill me”.
She said she was so lonely she tried to befriend mice.
Malaysian-born Oh Kareng, died after hitting her head on a kitchen cabinet in 2004.
Katy said he did not tell her he was her dad or that her mum Sian Davies was a follower.
Katy fled in 2005 and ended up at a police station, but was persuaded to return home because it was a bank holiday.
She added: “I want him to recognise what he did was wrong. I’ve been a non-person all my life and now is my chance to be myself.”
Balakrishnan died in custody at HMP Dartmoor in 2022 aged 81.
ReutersA photo booth picture of Balakrishnan in the 1970s[/caption]
EPATwo women died at his flat in Brixton, South London[/caption]
Ben Gurr – The TimesThe 5ft communist was jailed for 23 years in 2016[/caption]
Ray Collins – The SunThe cult was called the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought[/caption]
The Cult Next Door
The BBC2 documentary, which was directed by Vanessa Engle, tells the story of Balakrishnan’s cult and how it finally came to light in 2013 – when three women emerged from a small flat in Brixton after decades of being held captive.
The film traces the sect back to its roots in the 1970s and features interviews with two of the women who escaped – Aisha Wahab, a 72-year-old Malaysian woman who was part of the group for a whopping 40 years, and Katy Morgan-Davies, Balakrishnan’s daughter – who was born into and raised in captivity.
The film documents how the group turned into a cult – where members were controlled, threatened and brainwashed so that they were too scared to leave.
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