Three women living as slaves in London 'very distressed,' charity says

2013-11-22 148

Three women held as slaves - all in south London.

Police are investigating claims that a man and a woman at their home in Lambeth held the three women in domestic servitude for 30 years.

Here's Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) DETECTIVE INSPECTOR, HEAD OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE HUMAN TRAFFICKING UNIT, KEVIN HYLAND, SAYING:

"The Human Trafficking Unit of the Metropolitan Police deals with many cases of servitude and forced labor. We have seen some cases where people have been held for up to ten years but we have never seen anything of this magnitude before."

The women were 69, 57 and 30 years old.

Police say they received the tip from the Freedom Charity, whose founder Aneeta Prem says the women were very distressed.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) ANEETA PREM, FOUNDER OF FREEDOM CHARITY, SAYING:

"They were very distressed and very relieved to finally get their freedom actually...When they contacted the charity asking for hel