As '˜30 years a slave' daughter begins new life in Leeds, Maoist cult leader goes to jail for 23 years

Maoist cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75

A MAOIST cult leader who raped two of his followers and kept his daughter a 'slave' for 30 years has been jailed for 23 years.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75, known as Comrade Bala, brainwashed his cult into thinking he had God-like powers and could read their minds, and subjected them to decades of abuse.

His daughter Katy Morgan-Davies, 33, formerly known in the press as Fran, has bravely waived her right to anonymity to speak out about the years of psychological and physical bullying she endured at her father’s hands.

She told the Press Association: “It was horrible, so dehumanising and degrading. I felt like a caged bird with clipped wings.”

Katy Morgan-Davies, 33, formerly known as Rosie Davies, who was kept as a prisoner by her father Aravindan Balakrishnan.

INTERVIEW: Incredible story of woman rebuilding life in Leeds after 30 years as prisoner in Maoist cult

Balakrishnan, of Enfield, north London, was impassive as he was sentenced at London’s Southwark Crown Court.

He had been convicted of four counts of rape, six counts of indecent assault, two counts of ABH, cruelty to a child under 16, and false imprisonment.

The grey-haired pensioner idolised tyrants Chairman Mao, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein and wanted to be “bigger than all of them”, his daughter said.

He ran his tiny south London cult, the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, with an iron fist - banning his daughter from leaving the house or mixing with other children, and sexually assaulting two of his followers “by appointment”.

Jailing him, Judge Deborah Taylor said: “You were ruthless in your exploitation of them.

“You engendered a climate of fear, jealousy and competition for your approval.”

She added: “These are grave and serious crimes conducted over a long period of time and you have shown no remorse whatsoever.”