The adolescents, aged from one to 17, have reportedly never seen daylight.

They were kept in an eight-level den of overcrowded rooms under a three-storey house.

The house was found without ventilation or electricity in a suburb of the city of Kazan, in
the eastern region of Tartarstan.

The parents of these children have been charged with child abuse and the elderly leader of
the Muslim sect, 83-year-old Faizrakhman Satarov, faced charges of negligence.

The members of the sect call themselves ‘muammin’ after the Arabic term that means
‘believers’.

Satarov, a former top imam in a neighbouring province, had declared the deserted house an
independent Islamic state.

He ordered 70 followers to live in the underground cells and only a few sect members were
allowed to leave the premises to work as traders at a local market.

Police have said that the house will be demolished.

Satarov’s deputy Gumer Ganiyev declared on local television that it would be destroyed “over
our dead bodies”.

None of those charged have been arrested.

“The teachings of Satarov, who declared himself a prophet, have been rejected by traditional
Muslims,” said Kazan-based theologian Rais Suleimanov.

The sect with 70 followers has reportedly stopped accepting new members.

The underground cells were discovered by police on Friday as part of an ongoing
investigation.