‘Tanzanian’ arrested in London slavery case

Police stand guard outside a block of residential flats as house to house enquiries are carried out in the area of South London on November 23, 2013 concerning the recent discovery of three women held captive for 30 years.

In Summary

• Police commander Steve Rodhouse said the couple, both aged 67, were of Indian and Tanzanian origin and had been living in Britain since the 1960s. 
• The couple had been previously arrested during the 1970s, police revealed on Friday, without specifying on what charges.

London. A couple accused of keeping three women as slaves in a London house for 30 years are of Indian and Tanzanian origin and two of the victims were part of a political "collective", police said on Saturday.

The two older victims involved in Britain's most notorious case of modern-day slavery are thought to have met the male suspect through a "shared political ideology" and began living with him as part of a collective, London's Metropolitan Police said.

The third victim, a 30-year-old woman, is believed to have spent her entire life in servitude in a case that has stunned Britain. Police commander Steve Rodhouse said the couple, both aged 67, were of Indian and Tanzanian origin and had been living in Britain since the 1960s.

"We believe that two of the victims met the male suspect in London through a shared political ideology, and that they lived together at an address that you could effectively call a 'collective'," he told reporters.

Police carried out house-to-house enquiries on Saturday, speaking to residents living near the house where the women were held in south London.

The exact location has not been revealed but the police operation centred on a modern, low-rise block of flats in Peckford Place in Brixton, an area known for its vibrant nightlife and large Afro-Caribbean community.

The victims are a 69-year-old Malaysian, a 57-year-old Irish woman and the 30-year-old Briton. They were freed on October 25 after one of them made secret telephone contact with a charity.

Their alleged captors, who are suspected of immigration offences as well as involvement in forced labour, have been provisionally freed until January pending further investigations.

"The people involved, the nature of that collective and how it operated is all subject to our investigation and we are slowly and painstakingly piecing together more information," Rodhouse said on Saturday.

The couple had been previously arrested during the 1970s, police revealed on Friday, without specifying on what charges.