Who is the 'hippie killer' Charles Sobhraj, the subject of 'The Serpent'?

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who has been in prison since 2003 for killing two American tourists, has been released from prison in Nepal on health grounds. Targeting Western hippies traveling to South East Asia in the 1970s, Sobhraj must return to his country within 15 days.

Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj Hotchand Bhawnani (born 6 April 1944) is a French serial killer, fraudster, and thief, who preyed on Western tourists traveling on the hippie trail of South Asia during the 1970s. He was known as "the Bikini Killer" due to the attire of several of his victims, as well as "the Splitting Killer" and "the Serpent", due to "his snake-like ability to avoid detection by authorities".

In the release decision taken by the court, the expression "Keeping himself in prison permanently is not in line with the prisoner's human rights".

ARRESTED IN NEPAL IN 2003

Having been imprisoned several times for criminal offenses in France, Sobhraj began traveling the world in the early 1970s. Sobhraj, who started living in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, first killed an American woman in Pattaya in 1975. He was arrested in India in 1976 and spent 21 years in prison. Escaped from prison in 1986, Sobhraj was captured in the Indian state of Goa. Released in 1997, Sobhraj returned to Paris but was arrested again in 2003 in the tourist area of Kathmandu, Nepal.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1976 for the murder of US tourist Connie Jo Bronzich. Ten years later he was found guilty of murdering Bronzich's Canadian friend.

Sobhraj married Nihita Biswas, the daughter of a Nepali lawyer, who is 44 years younger than him while in prison in 2008.

Prior to his convictions in Kathmandu, Sobhraj spent 20 years in India for poisoning a busload of French tourists.

During this time, he managed to escape from the prison shortly after by putting the guards to sleep. He later claimed that his escape was a ruse to extend his sentence and avoid extradition to Thailand, where he was wanted for five more murders.

Sufficient evidence was gathered about Sobhraj for the crimes he committed in Thailand, and the murder investigation was brought to court there.

However, according to the laws of this country, the suspect was not caught for 20 years, which meant that the charges were dropped, so he avoided a possible death sentence.

Following his release in India, Sobhraj was arrested in 2003 for the murder of Bronzich when he was seen at a casino in Kathmandu.

BBC AND NETFLIX ADAPT SOBHRAJ'S LIFE INTO A SERIES

The eight-part series called "Serpent", a co-production of BBC and Netflix focused on the life of Sobhraj, who is thought to have killed at least 20 people, and the crimes he allegedly committed. Sobhraj is alleged to have committed more than 20 murders.

"Serpent"

The serial killer, who killed his victims by "strangling, beating, and burning", often used men's passports to travel to his next target.

He was nicknamed 'The Serpent' for his ability to take on other identities to evade justice.