Guwahati: Charles Sobhraj, a Frenchman of Indian and Vietnamese parentage, was on Friday walked out of Nepal jail following Supreme Court’s order.
According to media reports, after releasing from Nepal jail, Charles Sobhraj is due to be flown to France on December 23, 2022 evening.
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“Nepal’s government wants to send him back as soon as possible. Sobhraj also wants that. So I arranged for him the ticket for Qatar (Airways) at 6 (pm). The French embassy is bringing him his travel document,” Gopal Shiwakoti Chintan told reporters in Kathmandu.
Popularly known as “the Bikini Killer” and “the Serpent” due to his skill at deception and evasion, Sobhraj was serving a life term in Kathmandu jail since 2003 for the murder of American woman Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975 in Nepal.
A joint bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tilak Prasad Shrestha on Wednesday ordered the release of the 78-year-old Sobhraj from jail.
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His release was delayed by a day as the immigration authorities on Thursday requested to postpone his release till Friday citing a lack of space to accommodate him.
“Though everything has been cleared for his release from jail, he has to be handed over to the Immigration Department. The immigration authorities have requested to postpone his release till Friday as they need preparation for his accommodation,” said his lawyer Gopal Shivakoti Chintan.
The apex court had ordered the government to deport him to the country that issued him a passport within 15 days, unless he is wanted in some other case.
The court ordered Sobhraj, who had heart surgery in 2017, should be released on health grounds after serving more than three-quarters of his sentence for murdering two North Americans in Nepal in the 1970s.
A French foreign affairs ministry spokesman told a news agency on Thursday that its embassy in Nepal was monitoring the situation.