Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan guilty of sex abuse charges

Updated
Daughter of Brixton Sect Leader Speaks
Daughter of Brixton Sect Leader Speaks

A Maoist cult leader faces the prospect of dying in jail after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two of his followers and imprisoning his own daughter in the commune for 30 years.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75, known as Comrade Bala, carried out a "brutal" campaign of violence and "sexual degradation" against the women over several decades.

He brainwashed his followers into thinking he had God-like powers, and invented a supernatural force known as Jackie who, he said, could trigger natural disasters if his will was flouted.

After fathering a daughter with one of his acolytes, he kept her a prisoner in their home for three decades.

Balakrishnan, of Enfield, north London, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault and four counts of rape after a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court.

He was also convicted of two counts of ABH, cruelty to a child under 16, and false imprisonment.

Advertisement