Elderly cult leader Aravindan Balakrishnan guilty of sexual assault

A Maoist cult leader faces the prospect of dying in jail after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two women and imprisoning his own daughter in the commune for 30 years.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75, known as Comrade Bala, carried out a “brutal” campaign of violence and “sexual degradation” against the women over several decades.

He brainwashed followers into thinking he had god-like powers, and invented a supernatural force known as “Jackie” who, he said, could trigger natural disasters if his will was flouted. After fathering a daughter with one of his acolytes, he kept her a prisoner in their London home for three decades.