The three women who were held against their will as so-called 'cult slaves' in London were known to social services, it was claimed this week.

The women, who included one Irish member, were allegedly abused for over 30 years but only escaped last month when one of them reportedly phoned a local charity for help.

Now a police investigation suggests that two of the victims, an Irish woman aged 57 and a Malaysian woman aged 69, originally met their alleged captors through a political cult.

On Thursday police arrested an Indian man and a Tanzanian woman, who were later released on bail until January. The couple are reportedly suspected of assault and false imprisonment.

The third female victim, aged 30, is believed to be the daughter of the Irish woman and the male captor.

During the course of the investigation it emerged that a neighbor of the women, Marius Feneck, 26, said he received bizarre love letters from the youngest alleged victim, who was known locally as Rose.

In one of her letters she tells Marius that she could not flee the house because the windows and doors were locked.

She writes: 'Do not try to do anything for me. I want you to know the truth. These monsters are absolutely evil and racist.'

Rose reportedly never went to a local school and was home-educated.

According to the Daily Mail, Commander Steve Rodhouse from the Metropolitan Police told the press the older women and the Indian and Tanzanian couple were drawn together by political ideas in the 1960's and lived in a 'collective.'

Rodhouse added: 'Somehow that collective came to an end and the women ended up continuing to live with the suspects. How this resulted in the women living in this way for over 30 years is what we are seeking to establish.

'But we believe emotional and physical abuse has also been a feature of all the victims’ lives.'

Meanwhile Kamar Mautum, a retired teacher from a town near Kuala Lumpur, told the Daily Telegraph this week that the 69-year-old Malaysian captive named Aishah is her sister.

According to Kamar she had moved to Britain with her fiance in 1968 but got involved in extremist politics before disappearing without trace.

Her disappearance had created serious heartache for her family and her mother’s dying wish had been to know what happened to her daughter.

Last week Aravindan Balakrishnan and his wife Chanda were arrested arrested on suspicion of holding the three women captive.

Neighbors who say they were occasionally invited into the house say they never saw the Irish woman.