KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 — Confusion has surrounded the case of Malaysian Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab previously thought to have been “enslaved” by a Maoist sect in London, after she told her sister she led a happy and sociable life during her 30 years of “slavery”.

Following an emotional — for Kamar Mahtum Abdul Wahab, at least — reunification of the two sisters after their decades apart, the details now surfacing suggest there is much more than meets the eye in the case that has perplexed British investigators, who initially described it as the “worst case of modern-day slavery uncovered in Britain”.

“She told me, ‘I have got friends here, I work here. I do important work here’, but she could not reveal what it was she did,” Kamar was quoted as saying by UK daily The Telegraph.

“Each time she said something that made me smile she would say, ‘oh I love your smile. Don’t frown, laugh, smile’.”

The brief reunion did not see the two sisters delve into the conditions of Siti Aishah’s time at the Maoist commune. British police are still trying to determine why the Malaysian and two other women — Josephine Herivel, 57, and Rosie Davies, 30 — did not escape the compound despite an apparent lack of physical restraints.

“Aishah said, ‘I’ve got enough’, ‘my friends feed me’, ‘my friends love me, I love them, they help me out,” Kamar was further quoted saying in the The Telegraph’s report.

Earlier, news portal The Malaysian Insider cited Malaysian activist Hishammuddin Rais, who accompanied Kamar to London, as saying that Siti Aishah insisted she had not been held against her will, claiming that her Maoist beliefs had led her to continue staying at the flat in Brixton.

The activist also said Siti Aishah did not appear intent on returning to Malaysia, in apparent dispute of Kamar’s interpretation of her meeting with the estranged sister.

But Kamar now appeared adamant that Siti Aishah would come back to Malaysian once the “slavery’ case in London was resolved.

“She promised that after the investigation was over she would come home. As the rest of her family I want her to come home very, very badly.”

Earlier in their meeting, Kamar said her sister asked after their mother, whom she did not know had died nearly two decades ago.

She asked me, ‘how is mum?’ and I said, ‘mum is gone’. She did not show any emotion at that point. She had tears in her eyes, but I think they were out of respect for me. But I had the sob of my life,” Kamar said in The Telegraph report.

Siti Aishah had also lost her ability to understand Bahasa Malaysia, Kamar added, and could not comprehend a note the latter had penned in a bid to secure a meeting with the former.

Kamar later conceded that Siti Aishah had by now appeared more British than Malaysian.

Siti Aishah was one of three women who were “rescued” from a Maoist commune by British police on October 25, after one of them contacted London-based Freedom Charity to say they were being held captive, but recent reports now appear to suggest they may not have been physically prevented from leaving the sect.

The human trafficking unit of London police are now investigating the “invisible handcuffs” purportedly used to keep the trio in “captivity”.

The leaders of the Maoist sect, India-born Aravindan Balakrishnan and his Tanzanian-Indian wife Chandra Pattni, were arrested the same day but later freed on bail.

Siti Aishah’s identity was confirmed on Wednesday by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who also said she has been a student activist who fled to the UK in the 70s to avoid police action for communist links.