Maoist cult leader jailed 23 years for raping followers

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 74, leaves Southwark Crown Court in London January 6, 2015. - Reuters

LONDON (Reuters): A Maoist cult leader, convicted of raping and beating his brainwashed female followers and keeping his own daughter a fearful prisoner for more than three decades, was jailed for 23 years on Friday.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 75, known as Comrade Bala, used sexual degradation and physical and mental violence to keep the women under his control.