In a bizarre story that brings back recent memories of Ariel Castro’s kidnapping and captivity of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight for many Americans, three women have escaped a South London souse after allegedly being held as slaves for 30 years.
The three “deeply traumatized” women, a Malaysian woman (69), Irish woman (57), and British woman (30), were rescued after making a desperate phone call to a telephone number they once saw on a television documentary. That number was to Freedom Charity, a group that helps young people understand forced marriage and honor-based violence. Once receiving the call, the charity immediately notified law enforcement officials.
“We started in-depth talks to them when they could, it had to be pre-arranged. They gave us set times when they were able to speak to us,”Aneeta Prem, founder of Freedom Charity, told Sky News. Meanwhile, police scrambled to find the residence they were being held captive inside.
“It had to be done very secretly, because they felt they were in massive danger,”Prem added.
The youngest victim, age 30, “had no contact with the outside world” and is believed to have been born in captivity. Detectives are shocked of the story, admitting they’ve “never seen anything of this magnitude before.”
“You’re basically looking at domestic slavery, and you wouldn’t expect that to be happening in the UK, in London, in 2013,” said Prem.
As for the captors, a 67-year-old couple was arrested today at their home in Lambeth, south London and an investigation is currently ongoing.
“We have launched an extensive investigation to establish the facts surrounding these very serious allegations,” Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, from Scotland Yard’s Human Trafficking Unit, said today. “We applaud the actions of Freedom Charity and are working in partnership to support these victims who appear to have been held for over 30 years.”
