Murderer Charles Sobhraj Released After 20 Years
The Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered the release of this notorious serial killer, Charles Sobhraj, after nearly 20 years of imprisonment.
Charles Sobhraj is known as the bikini killer due to the clothes of his victims, usually tourists on vacation, which they were often found wearing. He was dubbed “The Serpent" for his knack for deceptive disguises, ability to escape prison and tendency to target young women. Charles Sobhraj was a French man who had Indian & Vietnamese parents. He was involved in a number of murder, theft and cheating cases. His victims were mostly young Western backpackers on the hippie trail in India and Thailand. Sobhraj has been linked to more than 20 killings between 1972 and 1982, in which the victims were drugged, strangled, beaten or burned. Sobhraj was charged with using a fake passport to enter Nepal and killing two American travellers in 1975. He was later arrested on the charges of murdering two American tourists in 2003 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, to the latest shocking news, the Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered the release of this notorious serial killer, Charles Sobhraj, after nearly 20 years of imprisonment. Bimal Paudel, who is a spokesperson of the Supreme Court in Nepal, said Sobhraj filed a petition to be released from jail and the court passed orders for his release on the grounds of his age. A provision in Nepalese law allows inmates who have shown good character and completed 75% of their jail term to be released. The Nepal Supreme Court also passed orders for his deportation to France within 15 days of his release. Notably, the murder streak of this French serial killer and his narrow escapes from the police even inspired an eight-part Netflix series titled as ‘The Serpent’, which was released on 2 April 2021. Sobhraj had already spent two decades in jail in India for poisoning a busload of French tourists. During that time, he briefly managed to escape from prison by drugging the prison guards. He later claimed the escape was a ploy to get his sentence extended and avoid extradition to Thailand where he was wanted for five more murders. Following his release from India, Sobhraj was arrested for Bronzich's murder after being spotted in a casino in Kathmandu in 2003.
