22 Nov 2013

Modern slavery

8:24 am on 22 November 2013

Three women have been "rescued" from a south London house as police investigate claims they were held as slaves for at least 30 years, the BBC reports.

Police arrested a 67-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman in Lambeth.

Last month officers were contacted by Freedom Charity after it received a call from a woman saying she had been held against her will for decades.

A Malaysian woman, 69, an Irish woman, 57, and a British woman, 30, were rescued from the house on 25 October.

The women, who are said to be "highly traumatised", are now in safe accommodation.

Police said they were not related to each other and the 30-year-old had spent her whole life in captivity. Officers are trying to establish whether she was born in the house.