KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of Charles Sobhraj, a French national known as “Nagan” because of his age, who police say is responsible for murders in the 1970s and 1980s. Responsible in relation.
Sobhraj, 78, is accused of killing more than 20 young Western backpackers across Asia, usually by feeding them drugs or drinking them. He had completed 19 years of his 20-year sentence.
Known as the “Bikini Killer,” Thailand issued a warrant for his arrest in the mid-1970s for drugging and killing six women, all wearing bikinis, on a beach in Pattaya.
He was also nicknamed “the serpent” for his ability to disguise himself after escaping from a prison in India in the mid-1980s, where he was serving a 21-year sentence for murder. He was later caught and imprisoned until 1997.
Last year, the BBC and Netflix co-produced a TV series based on his crime drama called “The Serpent.”
Sobhraj returned to France after his release from India and was arrested in 2003 at a casino in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu and later charged with the murder of American backpacker Connie Joe Brunsch. He has been incarcerated in a high security prison in Kathmandu since 2003.
On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justices Sapna Pradhanmala and Talprasad Shrestha ordered that Subhraj be released from Nepal after 19 years in prison and deported.
“The court has ordered that if there is no other reason to keep him in jail, he should be released within 15 days and sent back to his country,” Supreme Court spokesperson Bimal Paudel said.
Criminals sentenced to life in Nepal are usually sentenced to 20 years in prison.
“He has already served 95 percent of his jail term and he should have been released earlier because of his age,” Sobhraj’s Premier Rambandhu Sharma said, adding that Sobhraj was out of jail until Thursday. can be done
Here are some facts about Sobhraj:
- Subhraj, 78, was born to an Indian father and a Vietnamese mother. Colleagues have labeled him a con artist, a seducer, a robber and a murderer.
- Thailand issued a warrant for Sobhraj’s arrest in the mid-1970s for drugging and murdering six bikini-clad women on a beach in Pattaya. However, he was jailed in India before being tried on these charges.
- Sobhraj was sentenced to 21 years in prison for murder in India. A master at changing his appearance, he acquired another moniker, “Nag”, after escaping from prison in the mid-1980s. He was caught and returned to prison by 1997.
- Sobhraj returned to France after his release in India. In 2003, he was arrested at a casino in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and convicted of the murder of American backpacker Connie Joe Brunzich.
- Sobhraj denied killing the American woman, whose body was found in a wheat field near the Nepalese capital. His lawyers said the charge against him was based on speculation. Years later he was also found guilty of murdering Brunsich’s Canadian friend, Laurent Carriere. He was imprisoned in a high security prison in Kathmandu since 2003.
- Sobhraj’s alleged crimes across Asia have spawned books and at least one film. Last year, the BBC and Netflix jointly produced a series dramatizing his crimes.
- Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered his release due to his age. He has served 19 years of his 20-year sentence.
