Nepal frees French serial killer ‘The Serpent’

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Known for use of disguises and police evasion, a serial killer of French nationality was freed from a high-security prison in the South Asian nation of Nepal on Friday.

Charles Sobhraj, 78, popular as "Bikini Killer,” and “The Serpent,” was freed from Kathmandu Central Jail and sent to immigration for deportation to his native country.

He was jailed in 2003 for the murder of an American woman, Connie Jo Boronzich, 29, and his Canadian girlfriend Laurent Carriere, 26, in 1975, the daily Kathmandu Post reported.

With Vietnamese and Indian parentage, Sobhraj’s lifetime imprisonment was scheduled to end on Sept. 18 of next year.

The French national committed a series of murders across Asia in the 1970s, including in Thailand and India. He escaped from Tihar jail in New Delhi. However, he was caught in the west coast city of Goa and jailed again until 1997 when he returned to France.

Citing his age, Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered the authorities on Wednesday to release and deport Sobhraj to his country within 15 days.

His release was delayed until today due to some paperwork.

“Sobhraj, who has been implicated in more than 20 killings, served 21 years in prison in India for poisoning a French tourist and killing an Israeli national,” the daily reported.