Charles Sobhraj, is a French serial killer, fraudster, and thief also known as “the Bikini Killer” due to the attire of several of his victims, as well as “the Splitting Killer” and “the Serpent”, due to “his snake-like ability to avoid detection by authorities”, who is serving murder sentences in Nepal and has also served time in India was released on Friday by the Supreme Court of Nepal on the Human Rights Grounds owing to his health condition and old age.
Image Courtesy: freemalaysiatoday
Here’s a look at the History of Charles…
Abandoned by father
Sobhraj was born in then-French-occupied Saigon, it was known that his father was a businessman. Though his parents were not married, his father never acknowledged him as his son. Sobhraj later moved to France after his mother married a French soldier. But Sobhraj could not settle into the family and was often a visitor of jail due to petty crimes he committed at an early age.
Rise of a serial-killer
Sobhraj travelled worldwide, where he began targeting travellers backpacking through Asia. He spiked their drinks and killed them, often with women accomplices. Sobhraj has been accused of around 20 murders, though his motives have never been clear. Journalists and authorities stated that Sobhraj was quite charming, and embraced qualities which helped him commit his crimes and also evade punishment. He often bribed and made his way out of crimes.
Image Courtesy: sendstory
Sobharaj’s time in India
In 1976, Sobharaj was in New Delhi where he alongside his accomplices gave poison pills to tourists but was later arrested when some students managed to inform the police of his doings. Sobhraj is known to have led a life of luxury inside Tihar jail, with television and gourmet food, having befriended both guards and prisoners. In March 1986, in his tenth year in prison, Sobhraj threw a big party for his guards and fellow inmates, drugged them with sleeping pills and walked out of the prison.
Image Courtesy: indiatoday
Sobharaj’s arrest in Nepal
After his release from India, Sobhraj went back to France. But again in 2003, he went to Nepal, where he was arrested again. In 2004, the Nepal court gave him a life term in Nepal for killing an American woman, Connie Jo Bronzich, which happened in 1975 and also, killing Bronzich’s American friend, Laurent Carrière. In 2010, he married his Indian Nepali interpreter, Nihita Biswas, in prison. The daughter of his lawyer, who was 20 years old and 44 years younger than him.
Image Courtesy: news.com
Why is he being released?
It was known that in 2018, Sobhraj was in critical condition and had received several open heart surgeries and was scheduled for more. Sobhraj is said to be deported to France within 15 days after his release. The 78-year-old had petitioned for early release on health grounds which consisted of his poor heart condition and dental problems. The French embassy approached the Nepal government. On 21 December 2022, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered his release from prison because of his old age, after serving 19 of 20 years of the sentence.
The book/biography of Shobraj Charles written during his tenure in Jail
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1432626.The_Life_and_Crimes_of_Charles_Sobhraj
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