Three women were rescued from a south London home after being kept as slaves and in domestic servitude for several decades.
A 67-year-old man and woman were arrested for holding three women, a 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old British woman, captive, The Guardian reports. The pair were arrested for slavery and domestic servitude police said.
"Police were contacted in October by Freedom Charity after they had received a call from a woman stating she had been held against her will in a house in London for more than 30 years," said Scotland Yard.
"Further inquiries by police revealed the location of the house and with the help of sensitive negotiations conducted by the charity the three women ... were all rescued." Scotland Yard added, "All three women, who were highly traumatized, were taken to a place of safety where they remain."
NBC News reports that one women is believed to never have had contact with the outside world and spent her whole life in the house.
Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, of the Metropolitan Police's Human Trafficking Unit, said during a press conference, "We have never see anything of this magnitude before."
Police have said there is no evidence that any of the women were sexually abused and they were not likely related to each other.
Freedom Charity founder Aneeta Prem said the home was an "ordinary house in an ordinary street that would not raise concerns." She added, "They did have rooms that they could use but they were very restricted."