New Delhi: Serial killer Charles Sobhraj has been released from Central Jail in Nepal after the Supreme Court of the Himalayan nation gave the orders on the grounds of old age and deteriorating health conditions. He has been serving in jail since 2003 for murdering two American tourists. The 78-year-old appealed to Nepal authorities to let him stay in the country to undergo open heart surgery at the Gangalal Heart Hospital in Kathmandu.
Sobhraj is known to be a notorious killer, going on to kill women in Asian countries in the 1970s. He is a French citizen with Vietnamese and Indian parentage and is known to have committed 20 killings. He has also served 21 years in an Indian prison for poisoning a French tourist and murdering an Israeli citizen. He is known as the ‘bikini killer’ for targeting women tourists wearing swimsuits.
Charles Sobhraj enters the crime world
At the age of 19, he went to jail for the first time, for burglary in France, where he served three years before being paroled. He went on to steal a car and an armed robbery at a jewellery shop in Delhi’s Hotel Ashoka before fleeing to Kabul. He went on to rob people in Kabul and was later on joined by his younger brother in his crimes.
He is known to take a 10-year sentence in India to escape the death sentence in Thailand for five murders.
Final arrest
In September 2003, Sobhraj was detained from Kathmandu’s Royale Casino for a fake passport and a year later, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. Nepal’s Supreme Court upheld the decision of lower courts and sentenced him for the life.
Personal life
Sobhraj engaged with Nihita Biswas, the daughter of his lawyer Shakuntala Thapa. Nihita has also been a contestant in Bigg Boss. He is known to be a womanizer and it is said that he had many female visitors, including some who wanted to marry her.
His life story has been turned into various films like ‘Main Aur Charles’, ‘The Serpent’, “How To Be Friends With A Serial Killer’ and many more.
