Victim is believed to be from Armagh and was held after collective failed

Irish Central/November 24, 2013

By Patrick Counihan

The Irish woman held captive in London for 30 years is now said to have signed up to join a hippie-type cult which collapsed before she was kept against her will by two of its leaders.

The 57-year-old woman from Armagh joined the cult-type organisation when she arrived in Britain in her 20s according to the Sunday Independent.

The paper says the woman met a couple of Indian and African origin who persuaded her to join their ‘political collective’.

British police believe the Irishwoman and another woman rescued after 30 years in captivity had both joined the collective in London.

When the collective failed, the two women stayed with the cult leaders and ended up in domestic servitude according to police.

Officers believe the women were brainwashed over time and beat to prevent them leaving.

The police have so far refused to comment on rumours that the 30-year-old woman who was born in to the collective and also rescued is the Irish woman’s daughter.

In a statement, police said: “We believe she has lived with the suspects and the other victims all her life, but of course at this early stage we are still seeking out evidence.”

The report says that police have also revealed that the women would only agree to be rescued on condition that no immediate action would be taken against the suspects.

Door to door enquiries are underway in the Brixton area of London after police disclosed that the ‘suspects’ are of Indian and Tanzanian origin and came to the UK in the Sixties.

A police spokesman said: “We believe 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.”

Police in Dublin believe the Irish woman is originally from Armagh and studied at a third-level institution in Dublin before moving to the UK.

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