The victims were rescued by police on 25 October 2013 after one had called anti-slavery group Freedom Charity to say that she was being held against her will.

When police entered the premises it was "unpleasant" and "stuffy". The heating was on and the windows were shut, Detective Sergeant Paul Wiggett said at a press briefing at Scotland Yard on Wednesday.

The apartment was full of old newspapers and there were stacks of books, though "nothing overtly political". The women were forced to write down every detail of their actions and activities, including toilet visits.

Wiggett said they lived a "primitive lifestyle" with hardly any clothes or technology. Although the rest of the house resembled that of a hoarder, Balakrishnan's daughter's bedroom was stark, Wiggett added.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Manson, from the Met's organised crime command, said: "Over 40 hours of carefully conducted interviews, these women told us about the abuse they endured at the hands of Balakrishnan spanning decades.

"It seems extraordinary that Balakrishnan could command such control over so many people, however all of the victims have told us in great detail that they very much believed his claims of power and greatness and the threats he made to them. They all described feelings of fear and being totally controlled by him."

Balakrishnan's daughter said in an impact statement read out in court: "There are no words to express the pain that Bala[krishnan] and the collective has caused me. I was bullied, tormented, humiliated, isolated, and degraded.

"I lived in constant fear and was deprived of a normal life. I missed out on family. I never even knew who my mother was until after she died. My uncle, my grandparents, and other family members never even knew I existed."

In 2014 charges against Chanda Pattni were dropped due to “insufficient evidence".

