Aravindan Balakrishnan, known as Bala’s partner, has been waging a “violent” campaign of violence and “sexual assault” against women for decades, according to a court. The 81-year-old died in custody at HMP Dartmoor on Friday, the Justice Department confirmed to Sky News. His trial heard him brainwash his followers into believing he had God-like powers and invented a supernatural force called Jackie, which he said could wreak havoc if disobeyed. When the Maoist commune called the Labor Institute, based in Brixton, south London, invaded in 1978, Balakrishnan took over and imposed his will on a small group of women for the next 35 years. He had a daughter with one of his followers, who was later held captive in the community for 30 years. She was beaten, barred from singing children’s rhymes and not allowed to go to school or make friends. She later described herself as a “shadow woman” being held as a “bird in a cage”. Balakrishnan was convicted of a series of sexual assaults, cruelty to a child under the age of 16, false imprisonment and two counts of assault that caused actual bodily harm in 2015. Sentenced to 23 years in 2016. A spokesman for the Prison Service said the Prison and Probation Ombudsman had been informed of Balakrishnan’s death.
