A communist cult leader accused of a string of sexual assaults has told a court he was the "focus" of competition between two of his female followers.

Maoist Aravindan Balakrishnan said one of his alleged victims was "extremely jealous" of Sian Davies, who gave birth to his daughter, and he encouraged her to write down her sexual history to "cleanse her mind".

The 75-year-old, wearing a patterned cardigan and using a hearing loop, entered the witness box for the first time to give evidence in his trial at London's Southwark Crown Court.

He is accused of sexually assaulting two of his followers and imprisoning his daughter in a commune for 30 years during a "brutal" campaign of "violence" and "sexual degradation".

Balakrishnan, known as Comrade Bala to his followers, told the jury one of his alleged victims would perform a sex act on him but insisted it was consensual.

"There was no deception involved," he said Balakrishnan said the woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - was "extremely competitive" with Ms Davies.

"I was the focus of their competition," he said. "It became so obvious."

Defence barrister Adam Wiseman asked his client whether he encouraged the alleged victim to write her "sexual biography".

Balakrishnan replied: "Yes I did, but it wasn't the way it was put. That was encouraged so by writing it down she can cleanse her mind."

Balakrishnan told the jury that his followers went out in pairs because the area they lived in Brixton, south London, was "notorious for violence" and "anything could happen".

"They could be beaten up, attacked," he said. "They say for the first time 18 people in London have been stabbed to death this year. Eighteen. One, eight. A very unusual situation.

"If you go out by yourself you can get into all kinds of problems which is what (my daughter) didn't appreciate.

"It's better that two people go out together so whoever wants to attack them will see there are two people."

Balakrishnan - who emigrated to the UK from Singapore in 1963 - said he described himself as a "revolutionary socialist" when he arrived in the country because of an anti-communist sentiment.

He attended London School of Economics in the 1960s and said he believed the British state was facist at that time after witnessing the country's "cruelty" in their former colony Singapore.

Balakrishnan, of Enfield, north London, denies seven counts of indecent assault and four counts of rape against two women during the 1970s and 1980s.

He also denies three counts of actual bodily harm, cruelty to a child under 16 and false imprisonment. None of his alleged victims can be named for legal reasons.