UK: Cult leader sentenced to 23 years for abuse, rape

[rooster59]

UK: Cult leader sentenced to 23 years for abuse, rape

LONDON (AP) — A cult leader was sentenced to 23 years in prison Friday for raping and sexually assaulting his female followers and keeping his daughter imprisoned in a secretive Maoist commune in London for three decades.

Prosecutors said 75-year-old Aravindan Balakrishnan, known as "Comrade Bala," abused and brainwashed his followers into believing he had God-like powers, ensuring they were too scared to leave the tiny radical communist group he ran in south London.

His victims included two women and his daughter, 33-year-old Katy Morgan-Davies, who was born into the commune and was almost never allowed to go out in 30 years. Describing Balakrishnan as a "narcissist and a psychopath," Morgan-Davies told British media he emulated people including Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Saddam Hussein.

Sentencing Balakrishnan, Judge Deborah Taylor said his treatment of his daughter from her birth to the age of 26 "was a catalog of mental and physical abuse."

"These are grave and serious crimes conducted over a long period of time and you have shown no remorse whatsoever," she said.

Balakrishnan was convicted in December of rape, indecent assault, false imprisonment and cruelty to a child. He was impassive as he was sentenced Friday.

The case came to light in 2013 when Morgan-Davies and two other women escaped the sect with the help of a charity and police.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-30

[MaeJoMTB]

Doesn't this describe all religious leaders throughout time?

[NeverSure]

Doesn't this describe all religious leaders throughout time?

No.

[up2u2]

I agree. All religions are about financial and sexual control and exploitation. I see little difference between any of them. What amazes me is how many people subscribe to them. Just bizarre.

[allanos]

Religions pander to society's insecurities. Followers are brain-washed from an early age and the majority simply cannot, or do not want to, break free. They seem never able to develop the ability to think outside of the paradigm they are locked into. For many of the world's poor, it is all they have to cling on to, though, for hope of a better after-life than the circumstances that they live in, in their present lives.

Given this state, it becomes easy for religious leaders of any sect, and their support structures, to manipulate their followers, often attributing Messiah-like attributes to the Leader.

This applies equally to mainstream religions, e.g. Christianity (and its thousands of off-shoots - e.g. Catholicism, Anglicanism), Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc., as well as to the less well-known ones.

Marx was right when he said that Religion is the Opium of the masses.

[Emster23]

I can think of a couple highly revered religious founders who engaged in similar behaviors, and set their behavior as the standard

[luckyman]

Religions pander to society's insecurities. Followers are brain-washed from an early age and the majority simply cannot, or do not want to, break free. They seem never able to develop the ability to think outside of the paradigm they are locked into. For many of the world's poor, it is all they have to cling on to, though, for hope of a better after-life than the circumstances that they live in, in their present lives.

Given this state, it becomes easy for religious leaders of any sect, and their support structures, to manipulate their followers, often attributing Messiah-like attributes to the Leader.

This applies equally to mainstream religions, e.g. Christianity (and its thousands of off-shoots - e.g. Catholicism, Anglicanism), Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc., as well as to the less well-known ones.

Marx was right when he said that Religion is the Opium of the masses.

,

Well spoken, Allanos and indeed quite a smart comment from Marx although he had a lot of stupid ideas at the same time.

[Basil B]

Doesn't this describe all religious leaders throughout time?

Nothing to do with religion... "Maoism" is a political theory derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong.

[spidermike007]

He sounds like he is about on the level as L. Ron Hubbard, the bizarre and insane founder of Scientology. He was a paranoid super freak. But, I do not think he engaged in rape. Just brutally repressive mind games with his followers. David Miscavige, the current leader, is even worse. There is a great film out now called Going Clear. About the extent that this bizarre cult engages in mind control, and what they do to suppress information about their activities and how they react when people attempt to leave. It is a must see for anyone interested in this kind of extreme cult. To call this a religion is such a misnomer. It is a tax exempt cult. And they are worth over $3 billion US! Supposedly they keep famous members like Travolta and Cruise in check with all of the huge amounts of personal information they collect on them, while doing their so called therapy.

This guy sounds like he really deserves the slammer. And he will probably be treated very kindly by his cellmates. He will have a boyfriend in no time at all.

[Mr Money Bags]

This guy sounds like he really deserves the slammer. And he will probably be treated very kindly by his cellmates. He will have a boyfriend in no time at all.

Karma is truly inescapable.

You rape, you get raped. One way or another.

Thank you, Karma......

You're Welcome!!

[biplanebluey]

On 1/30/2016 at 1:42 PM, up2u2 said:

I agree. All religions are about financial and sexual control and exploitation. I see little difference between any of them. What amazes me is how many people subscribe to them. Just bizarre.

 

 What amazes me is this has been going on for all those years AND IN SOUTH LONDON and nobody knew ???????????????

[scorecard]

 

One simple example re scientology, nearly 4 decades ago when I lived in Melbourne Australia. One of my friends (a graduate student from Malaysia) received an 'order' from his mother (she's home in M'sia - and the guy concerned was frightened of his mother) to go quickly to the scientology centre in Melbourne and join and regularly attend to ensure he and the whole family could survive and live to an old age with better values etc. The mother also instructed that he write a detailed report and fax it to her after every meeting. 

 

He did quickly join and he quickly abandoned his social friends and his student friends. After maybe 12 months his elder brother came from Kuala Lumphur and took him home, mostly because he had a nervous breakdown and had already abandoned his studies because the 'church' had convinced him he needed to spend the majority of his time studying scientology and gaining new members.

 

Back home in Malaysia the family had been split apart by scientology. From there no further information.

 

 

[tonbridgebrit]

Freedom of religious worship is a basic human right. Just like freedom of expression.  But freedom of religious worship DOES NOT mean that we have to allow cults to exist.

Yes, stamp out all cults, remove them, ban them, and imprison the leaders of these cults if that's whats needed to eradicate them.

But the mainstream religions are okay. To the above posters, get real, Christianity is going to be staying here. And so is Islam. You'ill never be able to remove these religions. And it's absurd to create a link between Christianity and the cults. Your local church does not brainwash you, does not force you to do this or do that.