Cult told woman 'this is your family now', court hears

Aravindan Balakrishnan denies raping a member of the communist cult he led

Members of a cult told a fellow member "this is your family now" when she learnt her father had died, a court has heard.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also told Southwark Crown Court 75-year-old Aravindan Balakrishnan had raped and sexually assaulted her.

She wept as she told the court it remained her only experience of sex.

Mr Balakrishnan denies the charges against him.

Adam Wiseman, representing Mr Balakrishnan, said it was the defendant's case that he had never had penetrative sex with her, and that all other sexual activity was initiated by her and consensual.

'Scared to leave'

The woman also described being "whacked" so hard by Mr Balakrishnan her ear began to bleed and she lost her hearing.

She told the court she came to Britain to train as a nurse in the mid-1970s, but ended up living with Aravindan Balakrishnan's Workers' Institute collective after she had been arrested along with other members and lost her place in nursing accommodation.

Later she heard her father had died, but was told "this is your family now" by other members of the cult.

She told the jury she had been too scared to leave, and ended up living in a variety of houses occupied by the group until 1992.

Eventually she said she realised she could stand up to Mr Balakrishnan and decided not to return after leaving for a night shift.

She said she told herself: "This is the last time I'm going to walk this bloody floor… and I'm not coming back."

'I had to keep telling myself I had to do it - there was no other way."

Aravindan Balakrishnan faces 16 charges, including rape, indecent assault, false imprisonment and mistreating a child.