British police have released two suspects on bail after they were arrested in connection with keeping 3 women as slaves for more than 30 years.
A 57-year-old Irish woman a 69 year old Malaysian and a 30-year-old Briton who had apparently spent her entire life in servitude were rescued last month after calling a charity.
Two 67 year old non-British nationals, were arrested at the house in south London yesterday but the unnamed pair were later freed after questioning.
Police have described it as one of the worst cases of its kind they had seen.
"We have never seen anything of this magnitude before," said Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, who leads Scotland Yard's Human Trafficking Unit.
"These women are highly traumatised, having been held in servitude for at least 30 years with no real exposure to the outside world, and, trying to find out exactly what has happened over three decades will understandably take some time," he told reporters.
Police said there was no evidence to suggest that the case involved sexual abuse.
Detectives said they did not know where the youngest woman was born, adding that the relationship between the three women was "part of an ongoing investigation and we are not willing to speculate".
"However, we believe that the 30-year-old woman had been in servitude all her life," a Scotland Yard statement said.
The women, who are now in an unspecified location, were rescued after the Irish woman "found the courage" to call the Freedom Charity on October 18 after it was featured in a television programme about domestic slavery, police said.
Andrew Wallis from the Centre for Social Justice in England says it's hard to believe but slavery still exists
