Aravindan Balakrishnan, jailed in 2016 for string of sexual assaults, died of natural causes, coroner rules

A Maoist cult leader jailed for a string of sexual assaults and for keeping his daughter captive for three decades was found dead in bed in his prison cell, an inquest has heard.

Aravindan Balakrishnan, 81, who called himself Comrade Bala and brainwashed his cult into thinking he had godlike powers and could read their minds, died at HMP Dartmoor in Devon on 8 April 2022.