Nepal’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of French ‘serial killer’ Charles Sobhraj, known as the ‘Bikini Killer’, on the basis of his health. Sobhraj is serving a 19-year jail term since 2003 on charges of murder.
According to Supreme Court sources, a joint bench of Justice Sapna Pradhan Malla and Justice Tilak Prasad Shrestha ruled to release 78-year-old Sobhraj from jail.
According to media reports, the real name of Charles Sobhraj is Hatchand Bhaonani Gurmukh Charles Sobhraj. He is known as Bikini Killer in the world of crime. In 1970, Charles had killed about 20 people. Most of the foreign tourists were women. According to reports, he used to give narcotic drugs to a foreign woman visiting India by tricking them. Then he used to make love relations with them and kill them.
The apex court gave the verdict on Sobhraj’s plea in which he has claimed that he has spent more time in jail than was prescribed for him.
There is a legal provision in Nepal to release those prisoners who have spent 75 percent of the sentence in prison with good behavior during imprisonment.
In its decision, the court asked the concerned authorities to make arrangements for Sobhraj’s return home within 15 days. In his petition, Sobhraj had claimed that he had completed his jail term in line with the ‘relaxation’ given to senior citizens of Nepal.
He claimed that he had already spent 17 years in jail out of the 20-year sentence awarded and had already been recommended for release on account of good conduct. Sobhraj was caught in August 2003 from a ‘casino’ in Kathmandu.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Bhaktapur district court in 1975 for the murder of Laurent Carriere, a Canadian national, and Connie Jo Bronzich, an American national.
