Explained: Who Is 'The Bikini Killer' Charles Sobhraj, Released After 20 Years From Nepal Jail?

The French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who is portrayed in the Netflix series "The Serpent," is ordered to be released by Nepal's top court after twenty years. Sobhraj was charged with a number of murders throughout Asia in the 1970s.

The Supreme Court ruled that Sobhraj, 77, who has been serving his life imprisonment term in the Himalayan republic since 2003 for the murder of two North American visitors, should be released on medical grounds.

According to a copy of the judgement obtained by AFP, "keeping him in prison continuously is not in line with the prisoner's human rights."

Who is Charles Sobhraj?

Son of an Indian merchant and a Vietnamese shop worker, Sobhraj was born in Saigon, which was under French occupation at the time. His parents were not married when he was born and thus his father never admitted paternity.

Son of an Indian merchant and a Vietnamese shop worker, Sobhraj was born in Saigon, which was under French occupation at the time. His father never admitted fatherhood, and his parents were not wed.

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Following his mother's marriage to a French soldier, Sobhraj later relocated to France. In the numerous biographies and writings on him, it has been stated that Sobhraj despised his father's abandonment and never adjusted to his mother's new family. He started committing minor offences at a very young age and has spent time in and out of jail.

After having a rough childhood and serving numerous sentences in prison for minor offences in France, Sobhraj started travelling around the world in the early 1970s. He eventually ended up in Bangkok, Thailand.

His method of operation was to charm and befriend his victims¡ªmany of whom were starry-eyed Western tourists seeking spirituality¡ªbefore drugging, looting, and murdering them.

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'The Bikini Killer'

Prior to his release in 1997, Sobhraj ¨C was otherwise known as "The Serpent" or "The Bikini Killer," spent more than 20 years in Tihar on different accusations related to the alleged murders of at least 20 Western tourists, including bikini-clad women, in the 1970s.

He was the main suspect in at least a dozen murders of Western tourists in South Asia that happened in the 1970s, and before being detained in 1976, he briefly held the title of Interpol's Most Wanted Man. Sobhraj travelled across Thailand, Nepal, and India in 1975 and 1976 while posing as a gem trader. He committed a string of crimes along the Asian "Hippie Trail" and was the prime suspect in several murders of young Western tourists.

CNN

Reportedly, Sobhraj disliked hippies (otherwise referred to as "longhairs" by characters in The Serpent). He frequently fooled his victims before killing them and was a theft and fraudster who travelled with stolen passports.

His life story has inspired numerous novels, films, and a brand-new BBC drama that Netflix has just started streaming. The Serpent relates the tale of this slick, dapper businessman who frequently pretended to be a gem dealer to hippies, tourists, small-time drug traffickers, and young Western travellers.

When was Sobhraj finally jailed?

Sobhraj occasionally used the identities of the victims he had killed while stealing their passports.

When Sobhraj interacted with journalists and law enforcement officials, they observed him to be slick and charismatic, traits that aided in his crime commitment, accomplice recruitment, and prison escapes. He was repeatedly jailed in a number of different nations, but he escaped or bribed his way out.

Sobhraj was detained, tried, and given a 10-year prison term in New Delhi in July 1976. However, he reportedly fled at the end of his sentence with the intention to be arrested again and be charged with new offences for his escape. By doing so, he would be able to avoid being extradited to Thailand, where he was wanted for five murders and probably definitely faced the death penalty.

NDTV

After being freed from prison in India, Sobhraj returned to France. He travelled to Nepal in 2003, where he was detained once again. The 77-year-old has been languishing in a Kathmandu cell since 2003, after being sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Canadian backpacker and his American friend decades before.

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