Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: A French serial killer famously known as ‘The Serpent’, who was convicted of murdering several tourists in Asia in the 1970s, has been released from prison in Nepal after a court ruled in favor of his old age and good behavior.
Charles Sobhraj, now 78, spent 19 years in jail in Nepal for killing two North American tourists in 1975. The notorious killer targeted mostly young Western backpackers exploring the “hippie trail” in India and Thailand. He had been simultaneously serving two sentences in two separate trials, each 20 years long, in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu for murdering an American woman, Connie Jo Bronzich, and her Canadian friend, Laurent Carriere in 1975.
But Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered his release on Wednesday after his legal team filed a petition claiming that he should be given a concession on his prison term amid health reasons. A provision in Nepalese law also permits the release of inmates who have depicted good character and completed 75 percent of their prison term.
According to AFP, the court said in its verdict that “keeping him (Sobhraj) in the prison continuously is not in line with the prisoner’s human rights.”
The notorious serial killer
Sobhraj was found to be involved in more than 20 murders between 1972 and 1982, which saw the victims being strangled, beaten, drugged, or burned.
He was nicknamed ‘The Serpent’ and the ‘Bikini Killer’ for his ability to put on deceptive disguises, escape prison, and his tendency to target young women. Netflix also released a series about the killer in 2021 named The Serpent.
Prior to his two convictions in Nepal, the serial killer had already spent twenty years of jail time in India for poisoning multiple French tourists.
