‘The Serpent’: French serial killer Charles Sobhraj to leave Nepal prison a year before completing 20-year sentence
- Sobhraj, 78, is believed to have killed at least 20 tourists in Afghanistan, India, Thailand, Turkey, Nepal, Iran and Hong Kong during the 1970s and 1980s
- Last year the BBC and Netflix jointly produced a TV series dramatising his crimes called The Serpent. Sobhraj’s lawyer said he could be released by Thursday
Confessed French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Nepal, was ordered on Wednesday to be released because of poor health, good behaviour and having already served most of his sentence 20-year sentence.
The Supreme Court ruling also said Sobhraj, 78, had to leave the country within the next 15 days but did not specify to where.
Sobhraj was serving two life sentences in Nepal for the murders of two backpackers from the US and Canada. He is accused of killing more than 20 young Western backpackers across Asia during the 1970s and 1980s, usually by drugging their food or drink.
Life sentences in Nepal are usually 20 years. Sobhraj had completed 19 years of his 20-year sentence.
A court document said Sobhraj had already served more than 75 per cent of his sentence, making him eligible for release, and was suffering from heart disease.
“The court has ordered that if there is no other reason to keep him in jail, he should be released and sent back to his country within 15 days,” the Supreme Court’s spokesperson Bimal Paudel said.
Sobhraj’s lawyer Ram Bandhu Sharma said Sobhraj could be released by Thursday.