Maoist cult leader who convinced followers he had ‘God-like powers’ jailed for 23 years for rape and indecent assault
London-based Aravindan Balakrishnan convinced followers he controlled the sun, moon, wind and fire – they also believed he had a mind control machine monitoring their thoughts.
A Maoist cult leader who brainwashed and raped followers in his London commune, and kept his own daughter imprisoned for three decades, was jailed Friday for 23 years.
Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75, known as Comrade Bala, ruled his tiny south London cult with an iron fist. He made followers believe he had God-like powers and subjected them to decades of abuse.
“You were ruthless in your exploitation of them,” judge Deborah Taylor told him as she passed sentence at Southwark Crown Court in London. “You engendered a climate of fear, jealousy and competition for your approval.”
The judge said India-born Balakrishnan had treated his daughter more like “an experiment” than a human being. She was effectively kept prisoner in the commune.
I’ve been a non-person all my life and now is my chance to be myself
“Your treatment of her from her birth ... was a catalogue of mental and physical abuse,” the judge said.