![]() Photograph: Atish Patel/AFP/Getty Imagesĭuring his time in jail in Nepal, Sobhraj had raised eyebrows by marrying a Nepalese woman 40 years his junior. He said the Nepalese government had been “unwilling to release him at any cost” and had attempted to dispute Sobhraj’s good behaviour in prison, but that was overruled by the courts, who approved his petition.įrench serial killer Charles Sobhraj sits in an aircraft from Kathmandu to France, on December 23, 2022. Siwakoti described Sobhraj’s physical condition as “frail” but said he was mentally capable. “Sobhraj has heart issues and he wants to do a health check-up before he flys out,” said Siwakoti. ![]() Sohbraj will be extradited back to France on Friday evening, said the lawyer Gopal Siwakoti, who has been providing legal support on the case. He was linked to the deaths of at least 20 western travellers in Thailand, India and Nepal during the 1970s and 80s but became known as “the serpent” for his charm and slippery ability to evade arrest. Sobhraj was known to many as a seductive and ruthless con-artist and murderer. “I have a book and a documentary coming soon.” “I feel great, I am flying to Paris,” Sohbraj said over the phone, his spirits appearing high. Sobhraj and Leclerc then headed to Geneva to sell gems, but went back to India to build a new criminal family.Sobhraj, who is a French citizen of Indian and Vietnamese descent, walked out of a high security jail in Kathmandu on Friday morning, after a court ruling this week that ordered his release on the grounds he had served 75% of his sentence and his health was ailing. The trio were interrogated by Thai police but were released, but realising they would soon be caught they fled to Malaysia. Other victims he was linked to are Dutch students Henk Bintanja and Cornelia Hemker, Turk Vitali Hakim and his French girlfriend Charmayne Carrou who was killed after coming to look for him.Īs well as Thailand, Sobhraj travelled across Asia with Chowdery and Leclerc and claimed victims in India and Nepal. In the TV series, where some of the victims' names were changed out of respect, Sobhraj was seen poisoning, drowning and burning backpackers. While he was also dubbed The Serpent due to his ability to slide away from the police during a game of cat and mouse that went on for years. This led to the Bangkok Post dubbing Sobhraj the Bikini Killer as the bodies of several female victims were found in swimwear. One of his first targets, Seattle tourist Teresa Knowlton, was found drowned in a tidal pool in the Gulf of Thailand wearing a flowery bikini in 1975. He posed as a drug dealer or gem salesman to try and impress Western tourists, then stole their money and would kill them if they threatened to expose him. ![]() ![]() The criminals were arrested in Greece, but Sobhraj switched identities with his brother and escaped, while Andre spent 18 years behind bars in Turkey.Īt this point, Sobhraj's most notorious crimes as depicted on The Serpent started to take place on the hippie trail. He spent the following two years on the run across Eastern Europe and the Middle East before linking up with his younger half-brother Andre in Istanbul. Using the same scam, Sobhraj faked illness then drugged a hospital guard to escape and ran away to Iran without his family, who went back to France. However, he was able to escape by feigning illness, a trick he would use multiple times throughout his life, but was recaptured shortly after.Īfter borrowing money from his father for bail, he then fled to Kabul and was arrested once again for robbing tourists. Sobhraj and pregnant Chantal fled from France in 1970, robbing tourists and using fake documents while travelling through Eastern Europe.Ĭhantal gave birth to their daughter, Usha, in Mumbai while her husband ran a car theft and smuggling operation.Īs was shown in The Serpent, Sobhraj was imprisoned after an armed robbery for jewels at Hotel Ashoka in 1973. He was arrested on the day he proposed to Chantal for attempting to evade police while driving a stolen vehicle and spent eight months in prison, immediately marrying her when he was released. Sobhraj switched between high society and the criminal underworld, during which time he met his future wife Chantal Compagnon. He was sent to prison for the first time in 1963 in Paris and manipulated prison guards into granting him special favours such as having books in his cell. Charles Sobhraj, who was born in Saigon to a Vietnamese mother and an Indian father, started committing crimes as a teenager in France and didn't look back.
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