Aravindan Balakrishnan, the Maoist cult leader who ran a notorious South London cult, was found dead in his prison cell at HMP Dartmoor in Devon, an inquest has heard. Balakrishnan, known as Comrade Bala, committed a series of sexual assaults and kept his daughter captive for three decades.
Balakrishnan, 81, was discovered by a fellow inmate on April 8, 2022. He was serving a 23-year sentence at the time, following his 2016 conviction at Southwark Crown Court. He had been convicted of multiple charges, including four counts of rape, six counts of indecent assault, two counts of actual bodily harm (ABH), cruelty to a child under 16, and false imprisonment.
Devon Coroner’s Court was informed that Balakrishnan was on a wing designated for prisoners in poor health or considered vulnerable. He was known to suffer from diabetes, vascular dementia, and was described as “pretty frail.”
Upon discovering Balakrishnan, prison officers attempted CPR but were unable to revive him. Devon and Cornwall Police investigated the sudden death but found no suspicious circumstances.
Pathologist Dr. Russell Delaney concluded that Balakrishnan died from a lower respiratory tract infection, with secondary causes being vascular dementia, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease. No external injuries were found, and a test for Covid-19 was negative. Philip Spinney, senior coroner for Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay, recorded a conclusion of natural causes.
“On April 8, 2022, Aravindan Balakrishnan was discovered deceased in his cell at HMP Dartmoor where he was serving a sentence of imprisonment,” said Spinney. “He died of natural causes and my overall conclusion will be natural causes.”
No members of Balakrishnan’s family attended the brief hearing at County Hall in Exeter.
Balakrishnan, previously of Enfield, London, had brainwashed his cult into believing he had godlike powers and could read their minds. He idolized tyrants like Chairman Mao, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, and Saddam Hussein, and aspired to be “bigger than all of them,” according to his daughter, Katy Morgan-Davies.
Morgan-Davies, who waived her right to anonymity following her father’s sentencing, spoke out about the psychological and physical abuse she endured at his hands. “It was horrible, so dehumanising and degrading. I felt like a caged bird with clipped wings,” she said.
Balakrishnan ran his tiny cult, the Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, with an iron fist. He banned his daughter from leaving the house or interacting with other children and sexually assaulted two of his followers “by appointment.”
To maintain control over his followers, Balakrishnan invented an invisible war machine called Jackie, which he claimed could kill or trigger earthquakes if anyone disobeyed him.
Despite his death, the legacy of Balakrishnan’s crimes remains a stark reminder of the abuse of power and the resilience of those who survived his reign of terror
