Originally published on November 21, 2013
Three women have been rescued from a house in south London after spending 30 years in servitude, British police said on Thursday.
One of the women is believed to have spent practically her whole life inside the residence in Lambeth.
Police arrested a man and a woman, both aged 67, at their south London home, after the women escaped the house with the help of a charity.
The two people arrested were released on bail pending further enquiries, a police statement said. No additional details were provided.
According to Reuters, "Police said they did not believe the women - a 69-year-old Malaysian, a 57-year-old from Ireland and a 30-year-old Briton - were related and there was no evidence of sexual abuse. It was not clear where the youngest of the three was born.
"The women appeared to have had limited freedom over the years but it was not until one victim summoned the courage to call a charity on October 18 after watching a TV documentary featuring an anti-slavery campaigner that they came to light.
"After building trust with workers at Freedom Charity, the two younger women met with charity staff and police on October 25 and led them to the house where they rescued the third woman and all three were taken to safety.
"The case was kept secret until Thursday's arrests of two people described as non-British nationals on suspicion of being involved in forced labor and domestic servitude. The man and woman remain in custody.
"'These women are highly traumatized, having been held in servitude for at least 30 years with no real exposure to the outside world, and, trying to find out exactly what has happened over three decades will understandably take some time,' Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland said in a statement.
"Hyland said the trail to the women began on October 21 when the Freedom Charity reported a call to police from a woman who said she had been held against her will in the house for more than 30 years after the or
