Three Women Held as Slaves in U.K. Home Rescued by Police, 67-Year-Old Couple in Custody for Alleged Crimes

British police have arrested a couple that allegedly held three women captive for more than 30 years as house slaves.

Metropolitan Police described the "barbaric" ordeal "as part of an investigation into slavery and domestic servitude," according to NBC.

The 67-year-old man and woman were arrested after officers rescued three victims - a 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman, and a 30-year-old British woman - from the house in south London. The three "highly traumatized" women were transported to a safe area after officials from the Human Trafficking Unit managed to gain entry into the house.

The investigation began after a domestic abuse non-profit called Freedom Charity received a call from a woman who said she'd been held captive for 30 years. She claimed she was compelled to give the organization a call after seeing a documentary on television concerning forced marriages.

"Further inquiries by police revealed the location of the house and with the help of sensitive negotiations conducted by the charity and the three women," Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland from the Met's Human Trafficking Unit wrote in the statement. "We applaud the actions of Freedom Charity and are working in partnership to support these victims who appear to have been held for over 30 years."

According to USA Today, the rescue operation took about a week to pull off after one of the captives first made the call in October. The women had to be convinced multiple times that it was time to leave the house.

Although not much is currently known about the three women, it seems they had some amount of "controlled freedom" during the three decades they were held at the home. Founder of Freedom Charity Aneeta Prem said that the women felt like they couldn't leave the residence for fear of violent punishment - or worse - at the hands of their captors.

"One of the key things that has come up is that these three ladies were absolutely terrified by these people," she told Sky News, adding that the couple seemed as though they were "the heads of the family."

Prem also said that the residence seemed like an "ordinary house in an ordinary street that would not raise concerns."

"They did have rooms that they could use but they were very restricted," she told Sky News.

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