She's 30 and has never had contact with the outside world.

It’s got more in common with a Caroline Overington thriller than it does with normal life in suburban London.

Three women have been rescued from a seemingly ordinary London home after been kept as slaves for at least thirty years.

According to media reports, a 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old Britsh woman were rescued from the house in South London last month, however the story has only just been made public.

It’s believed the 30-year-old woman has been held captive her entire life and has had never had contact with the outside world before now.

A man and a woman, both aged 67, have been arrested in relation to the alleged crime and the  investigation continues. It is still not known what their initial relationship was with the three women they held captive for half a lifetime.

The UK’s Guardian reports:

Scotland Yard 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.

“Further inquiries by police revealed the location of the house and with the help of sensitive negotiations conducted by the charity the three women, a 69-year-old Malaysian woman, a 57-year-old Irish woman and a 30-year-old British woman, were all rescued.

“All three women, who were highly traumatised, were taken to a place of safety where they remain.”

The group that has been credited with the incredible rescue is an organistion called Freedom Charity. It’s alleged that the Irish woman contacted the group via their helpline after seeing a documentary on forced marriages.. What followed was a delicate operation to gain the trust of the captive women before enlisting the help of the police to get the women out.

Aneeta Prem, spokesperson for Freedom Charity, said: “Freedom charity, hearing about the situation of the women, took immediate action in planning their safe rescue. Facilitating their escape was achieved using utmost sensitivity and secrecy and with the safety of the women as our primary concern.”

The women have been described as “highly traumatised”. It’s believed they haven’t left the house in many years because of fear of their captors.

The house they were living in has been described as “just an ordinary house in an ordinary street that wouldn’t raise any concerns with anybody else”. Neighbours apparently had no idea what was going on behind the doors and that the women were being held and treated as slaves.

Here’s more from Aneeta Prem, via The Daily Mail:

‘They felt they were in massive danger.

‘I don’t believe the neighbours knew anything about it at all.

‘It was just an ordinary house in an ordinary street.

‘They did have rooms that they could use but they were really restricted about what they could do and could never leave the front door.

‘They are together in a place of safety and are doing very well despite what has happened to them.

It’s a story reminiscent to that of Amanda Berry, Gina de Jesus and Michelle Knight who, earlier this year, were rescued from a house in Cleveland, Ohio, after being held captive for more than 10 years each.

Similarly, Jaycee Lee Duggard, was rescued from a house in South Lake Tahoe, California after she was kidnapped more than 18 years before.

Although unlike the cases of Jaycee Lee Duggard and the Cleveland victims, there’s not believed to be a sexual component involved in the case of the women in the UK.

We’ll keep updating this story as more details come to light.