Two decades in Nepal jail, Bikini Killer Charles Sobhraj to walk free

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj. (Express archive photo)

Sobhraj’s release comes 10 months before he would have completed his life term.

Wanted in Nepal for a murder committed way back in the 70s, he was arrested in 2003 from a casino in Kathmandu when he arrived on a tourist visa, before being tried and convicted.

Sobhraj had then told his interrogators that he was under the impression that, like in some other countries, Nepal had ‘laws of limitation’ which would have given him immunity for crimes committed more than 20 years ago.

Sobhraj also served time in India for 21 years, which included a 22-day break period when he escaped Delhi’s Tihar Jail in 1986. Back then, he had drugged prison guards on the pretext of sharing sweets for his birthday.

But once they got him, police in Nepal reopened an investigation from 1975 — of the murder of US citizen Connie Jo Bronzich, who was killed in Kathmandu by Sobhraj, who had approached her by posing as a “charming” gem dealer.

The body of Bronzich, who was staying in the same hotel as Sobhraj, was found lying in a deserted area around 20 km from the building.

Sobhraj was convicted by the district and appellate courts and the Supreme Court.

Sobhraj, 78, had petitioned the government seeking early release citing a poor heart condition and dental problems. Over the years, the French embassy in Kathmandu too lobbied for Sobhraj’s release.

“…During the pendency of the petition, I have been suffering from a major heart disease requiring an open heart surgery of the replacement of heart left valve and a repair of the right valve..,” Sobhraj had said in an application to the French embassy on August 4, 2017.

In an exclusive interview to The Indian Express in 2017, Sobhraj, who had collapsed in jail a few days earlier and was scheduled to undergo a valve replacement at the Gangalal Heart Centre in Kathmandu, said, “I don’t know if I will survive this. I have been threatened with death in the courtroom. Besides, the risk factor of an open heart surgery in Nepal is higher than France. In Nepal, it is between 3-5 per cent while in France it is only 1 per cent. But the cardiologists here have decided I should have the replacement as quickly as possible since there is significant damage in one valve and mild damage to the other. Of course, I am nervous about all this.”

Sobhraj’s notoriety earned him nicknames such as ‘Bikini Killer’, (many of his victims were mostly backpacking Western tourists in Asia) and ‘Serpent’ for the skill with which he evaded the police.

His modus operandi allegedly involved drugging his victims and then killing them. It is estimated that Sobhraj, who was most active between 1972 and 1976, killed 15-20 people in this period.

Sobhraj’s chilling murders and jailbreaks have been recounted in countless documentaries, movies and books.