Doctors suspicious as notorious French 'bikini killer' gets break from jail for heart surgery in Nepal
Authorities discussing the transfer of the prisoner to France for treatment or to serve the remainder of his life sentence
A notorious French criminal who earned the nickname “bikini killer” for a string of murders throughout Asia in the 1970s, was in a Nepali hospital on Thursday, where he was expected to undergo open heart surgery.
Charles Sobhraj, 73, who is currently serving a life sentence, was taken to hospital for tests, his lawyer and mother-in-law Sakuntala Thapa said.
He is spreading rumours despite our intensive care and treatment. It is suspicious and could be a ploy to get released from the jail
The ageing prisoner – who has been implicated in more than 20 killings – needs to have one of the valves in his heart replaced, said Jyotendra Sharma, director of Sahid Gangalal National Heart Centre, where the surgery will take place.
It is not clear whether Sobhraj will remain in hospital until the surgery or be returned to the prison clinic.
Sobhraj was taken to hospital in late May after suffering a heart attack and was diagnosed with a weak valve that needed to be corrected through surgery.
His lawyer said that Sobhraj wanted to return to France for the surgery – a plea that he also made in a rare telephone interview with the Indian Express newspaper earlier this week.
