The photo speaks volumes: the French serial killer Charles Sobhraj (78) is said to have killed at least twenty tourists in South and Southeast Asia. He was imprisoned in Kathmandu for 19 years for two murders in Nepal, which he still denies. Now he is free again. On the run to freedom, he appears sane and relaxed. Not so his chair neighbor.
Sobhraj was released on Friday – and immediately deported. In a photo, he can be seen in economy class on a Qatar Airways scheduled flight. The unknown young fellow passenger next to him looks anxiously at her neighbor. By now she has probably been told who the older gentleman is. This is one of the most notorious killers of the moment – and is deliberately relaxed.
On board the plane from Qatar that will take him to Paris via Doha on Saturday morning, Sobhraj told a journalist: “I feel great. I have a lot to do. I have to sue a lot of people. Also the state of Nepal.” He was wrongly convicted and imprisoned.
Netflix series
Sobhraj has a lot on his plate. Posed as a clever and cultured gem dealer and befriended his victims. Many were Western backpackers on the hippie trail of the 1970s. Sobhraj gave them drugs, robbed them and killed them. His alleged first victim was a young American woman in 1975. Her body was found in a bikini on the beach. Hence his nickname “Bikini Killer”.
In 1986, Sobhraj escaped from India’s infamous Tihar Prison, one of the largest detention centers in South Asia. The convicted killer had drugged guards with cookies and cake laced with sleeping pills. Moments later, he was caught again.
After his release in 1977, he lived in Paris and gave boastful interviews. In 2003 he returned to Nepal. By chance, he was recognized in a casino playing baccarat. Netflix dedicated the series “The Serpent”, “The Snake”, which will first air in 2021, to the serial killer. (kes)