News Desk
ISLAMABAD/KATHMANDU: A Nepal court has issued orders to release French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who spent almost 19 years in prison after he was convicted of murdering two tourists in Kathmandu in 1975.
The court has issued orders for the release of the killer and his return to France within 15 days.
Sobhraj, who was also convicted for a string of other murders in the 1970s, spent 20 years in prison in India.
French serial killer’s victims
The French serial killer’s victims were primarily young Western tourists visiting India and Thailand.
The highly notorious killer had been serving a life sentence in Katmandu for killing American woman Connie Jo Bronzich and her Canadian friend Laurent Carriere.
Sobhraj, now 78, who was recently convicted in 2014, was earlier sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering Carriere and her friend Bronzich.
Nepal’s Supreme Court issued orders for the release of Sobhraj on Wednesday after his legal team filed a plea taking the stance that the convict should be given a remission on his jail term due to his age and good behaviour.
A provision in the Nepalese law allows prisoners who show good character and complete 75 per cent of their jail term could be released.
Nepal’s Supreme Court said in a verdict that keeping the serial killer in the prison continuously was not in line with the prisoner’s human rights, according to AFP.
The court verdict also cited the regular treatment the convict was getting for his cardiac disease, another reason for his release. Sobhraj counsel said that his client could be released as early as Thursday.
Sobhraj had been linked to over 20 murders between 1972 and 1982. His victims were mostly drugged, strangled, beaten or burned.
Sobhraj was dubbed “The Serpent” or the “Bikini Killer” for his ability for deceptive disguises and escapes arrests and his tendency to target young women. The Serpent later became the title for a BBC hit and Netflix series about the killer, which was released in 2020.
