French serial killer Charles Sobhraj was released from a prison in Nepal on December 23, after almost 20 years. The 78-year-old, known as "the serpent" and "bikini killer", is behind a string of murders across Asia.
Charles Sobhraj was escorted out of the Kathmandu Central jail by a group of policemen.
(Image credit : AFP)
He was then put on a plane that would take him to Paris via Doha. Sobhraj spent his childhood in France after his mother remarried. He was born in Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, to a Vietnamese mother and Indian father.
(Image credit: AFP)
Sobhraj has been linked to over 20 murders across Thailand, Nepal, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Hong Kong and Turkey. He would target young backpackers, luring them by claiming to be a gemstones trader and then killing them. He would take the passports of his male victims to move to his next location.
His first confirmed victim was a young American woman in Thailand. Her body had been found on a beach in Pattaya.
He spent two decades in India's Tihar jail. However, in 1997, he was deported to France without charge.
In 2003, Sobhraj appeared in Nepal, where he started an export company using a fake identity. But his cover was soon blown and he was arrested for killing two tourists in 1975.
He was handed a life sentence in 2004 and sent to the Kathmandu prison.
Earlier this week, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered his release on the grounds of health and good behaviour.
"I feel great... I have a lot to do," Sobhraj told news agency AFP. "I have to sue a lot of people. Including the state of Nepal."
(With inputs from AFP)
Also read: Charles Sobhraj freed after 20 years in prison. 10 facts about 'bikini killer'
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