Three women who had been working as slaves for some 30 years were rescued in a south London house Thursday morning, according to local media reports.

Photo: AFP

The Guardian identifies the victims as a 69-year-old Malaysian, a 57-year-old Irish and a 30-year-old British.

A 67-year-old couple were arrested at their residential house in Lambeth, where the trio were held slaves.

The Guardian quoted Scotland Yard as saying that 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.

"All three women, who were highly traumatized, were taken to a place of safety where they remain," said police.

The victims were not related to each other, and police found no evidence of sexual abuse, according to a report by Daily Mail.

Police are trying to make out whether the youngest victim was born in the house or taken as a baby, as she had been in servitude for her entire life without contact with the outside world.

"We have seen some cases when people have been held for 10 years, but we have never seen anything of this magnitude before," said Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland from the Metropolitan Police's Human Trafficking unit.

BBC described the women as having "controlled lives" and spent most of them indoors, but they had some freedom.

The Freedom Charity is investigating how the women had remained hidden for such a long time.

"In a very busy capital city we often don't know our neighbors," said Aneeta Prem, founder of the charity. "We are looking at people who were kept against their will in an ordinary residential street in central London."

The Home Office is shocked at the case, and declared its determination to root out modern slavery.

Source: Xinhuanet