Rescued 'slave' meets sister

KUALA LUMPUR - Ms Siti Aishah Abdul Wahad, the Malaysian woman rescued last month from three decades of captivity in London, has met her elder sister for the first time since the 1970s.

Madam Kamar Mahtum Abdul Wahab, 73, reportedly handed a prayer mat and a letter from the family to her 69-year-old sister, who is recuperating at an undisclosed location in London after suffering a stroke, news channel Astro Awani said.

Malaysian High Commissioner in London Zakaria Sulong said that "Aishah was asked to write to her family in Malaysia".

Ms Siti Aishah had dropped off the radar in the early 1970s after she joined a leftist group run by Aravindan Balakrishnan, 73, and his Tanzanian wife Chanda Pattni, 67. For years, the couple held Ms Siti Aishah, along with an Irishwoman and a Briton, as domestic slaves, physically assaulting and emotionally controlling them, reports said.

They were rescued last month after the Irishwoman called a charity for help when Ms Siti Aishah suffered a stroke but was denied medical help by their captors.

London police, who made the rescue public only last week, said the three women, one of whom was born in captivity, had spent the last 30 years with minimal contact with the outside world.

Madam Kamar Mahtum left for London on Tuesday after learning that one of the rescued was her younger sister, The Star reported.

The Daily Telegraph in Britain quoted her as saying: "I hope from this letter and the fact that I came here to London will make my sister realise she is loved by her family. It is my sincere dream and my hope that soon we can be reunited."

Datuk Seri Zakaria has assured Madam Kamar Mahtum of all assistance in case Ms Siti Aishah wished to return home, The Malaysian Insider reported.

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