Charles Sobhraj, the French serial killer, released from Central Jail in Nepal

NEW DELHI: The infamous serial killer Charles Sobhraj was on Friday released from the central jail of Nepal on medical and age grounds. Responsible for murders of young foreigners in the 1970s across Asia, the 'Serpent' left a Nepal jail in a police van, said official sources. He was released on the orders of Nepal's apex court after serving 19 years in jail on murder charges. Sobhraj was handed over to the immigration authorities to process his papers, officials said. A joint bench of justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tilak Prasad Shrestha on Wednesday ordered to free 78-year-old from jail.

 

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj released from Central Jail in Nepal

Nepal's Supreme Court ordered his release on grounds of age.He has been in a Nepal jail since 2003 on charges of murdering 2 American tourists.The court ordered his deportation within 15 days of his release pic.twitter.com/Vda4mr7nRQ — ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2022

 

However, his release was delayed by a day as the immigration authorities on Thursday requested to postpone his release till Friday citing lack of space to accommodate him. Gopal Shiwakoti, lawyer of Charles Sobhraj, late on Thursday evening told ANI that he would be kept at central jail for the night as a "special guest". 

"When he was asked to stay as a special guest here in the prison for the night, then he replied, `I am happy. I require special attention due to my health condition and cannot share the room with others. It`s okay for me to stay here, I will go tomorrow`" Shiwakoti quoted Charles as saying.

The French national, also known as Serpent Killer, had been serving his sentence in Nepali jail on the charge of murdering two American tourists. 

The court concluded that the 78-year-old will be set free as he had already completed 95 per cent of his jail term. In the verdict delivered on Wednesday evening, Supreme Court said, "The regulation on prison management envisions a waiver of up to 75 per cent of the jail term of the prisoners over 65 years of age and with good conduct."

Sobhraj`s lawyers had long been demanding the court`s intervention for clemency. In different petitions, they had demanded a waiver of his jail sentence, citing provisions of Clause 12 (1) of the Senior Citizens Act 2063. The court has now ordered the government to make arrangements for repatriating Sobhraj to his home country within 15 days."

"Kept in prison here at Central Jail for a long time, the French national Charles Sobhraj has been ordered to be released by the Supreme Court on 21st December. We checked the records of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur District Court and have requested clearance from them over the cases registered against him. We are now preparing to release him from prison and then we will hand him over to the Department of Immigration. We will take him to the department after they finish their preparations," Ishwori Prasad Pandey, the Jailer at Central Jail in Kathmandu told reporters before Sobhraj underwent medical checkups.

The notorious criminal also has appealed to the authorities in Nepal to let him stay in a hotel and undergo open heart surgery at the Gangalal Heart Hospital in Kathmandu. But the authorities are yet to decide on it.

The notorious criminal with police cases in different countries was convicted of killing the American citizen Connie Jo Boronzich, 29, and his Canadian girlfriend Laurent Carriere, 26, in 1975.

Arrested on September 19, 2003, Sobhraj`s lifetime imprisonment would end on September 18 next year. The French citizen with Vietnamese and Indian parentage committed a string of murders throughout Asia in the 1970s. 

Sobhraj, who has been implicated in more than 20 killings, served 21 years in India for poisoning a French tourist and killing an Israeli national. Sobhraj was also awarded a 20-year jail term in 2014 after being found guilty of a second murder, of a Canadian tourist Laurent Carriere, who was killed in 1975. The French serial killer was arrested in 2004 after he was first spotted in a Kathmandu casino.