Charles Sobhraj: French serial killer ‘The Serpent’ released from Nepali jail

CNN
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Charles Sobhraj, the infamous French serial killer who inspired the award-nominated TV series “The Serpent,” walked free from a Nepali prison Friday.

“Sobhraj has been released from the jail. He has been handed over to the immigration department. The officials at the immigration department informed us that he would be deported to France soon, as early as today,” Ishwari Prasad Pandey, an official at Nepal Central prison told CNN.

He arrived in Paris on Saturday, according to AFP.

Sobhraj, aged 78, had been serving a life sentence in Nepal for killing two tourists in 1975, but many of his alleged murders remain unsolved.

He was freed after Nepal’s top court on Wednesday ordered his release on the grounds of his age and health. He is suffering from a heart disease and needs open-heart surgery, the court said.

Born in French-administered Saigon, Vietnam, Sobhraj was first jailed in Paris in 1963 for burglary but went on to be accused of committing crimes in a list of countries: France, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Thailand and Malaysia.

He also escaped from prison in several countries, and his propensity for evading the authorities earned him the nickname “The Serpent.”

Sobhraj eventually admitted to at least 12 killings between 1972 and 1976, and hinted at others to interviewers before retracting the confessions ahead of further court cases, according to his biographers. His true number of victims is unknown.

In 2014, a Nepali court convicted Sobhraj for the 1975 murder of Canadian tourist Laurent Carrière, handing down a 20-year sentence.

The 2021 BBC/Netflix drama called “The Serpent” is based on the story of Sobhraj’s alleged murders. It tells how for years, he evaded the law across Asia as he allegedly drugged, robbed and murdered backpackers along the so-called “hippie trail” – while former Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg worked with authorities to capture him.