“Bikini Killer” Charles Sobhraj Deported From Nepal, Says “Lots To Do”

Charles Sobhraj, a French serial murderer who committed numerous killings in Asia during the 1970s, told AFP that he felt “wonderful” after leaving the Nepali prison where he had spent nearly 20 years.

“I feel great… I have a lot to do. I have to sue a lot of people. Including the state of Nepal,” Sobhraj told AFP on board a plane for his deportation to France. Asked if he thought he had been wrongly described as a serial killer, the 78-year-old said: “Yes, yes.”On Wednesday, Nepal’s highest court decided that he should be released for medical reasons and deported to France within 15 days.

He was freed on Friday and put on a flight from Kathmandu to Paris via Doha, where he was scheduled to land early on Saturday. The Netflix and BBC co-produced television series “The Serpent” included a biography of Sobhraj.

Sobhraj, who was born in Saigon to an Indian father and a Vietnamese mother who subsequently wed a Frenchman, began a worldwide life of crime and, in 1975, found himself in Thailand. He would befriend his victims, many of whom were Western hikers travelling on the hippy path in the 1970s, while posing as a gem merchant before drugging, stealing, and killing them.

He was accused of killing a young American woman whose body was discovered on a beach in a bikini in 1975. He was classy and suave. He subsequently gained the moniker “bikini killer” and was implicated in over 20 homicides.

He was imprisoned in India for 21 years after being apprehended there in 1976, with the exception of a brief escape attempt in 1986 when he drugged the prison guards. In the Goa region of India, he was apprehended once more. After being freed in 1997, Sobhraj stayed in Paris and gave media paid interviews until returning to Nepal in 2003.

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