/wion/media/agency_attachments/2024/12/26/2024-12-26t112006978z-wion-white-logo-for-website-2-1.png){kind=logo}
/wion/media/agency_attachments/2024/12/13/2024-12-13t071548098z-wionlogo.webp)
/wion/media/post_attachments/files/2022/12/21/319994-charles-sobhraj.png)
New Delhi
French serial killer Charles Sobhraj will be released from a prison in Nepal on Friday after the Supreme Court ordered him to be freed on Wednesday. Known as the ''Bikini Killer'' and ''The Serpent'', Sobhraj had been serving a life sentence in Nepal since 2003.
"We will release him and take him to the Department of Immigration tomorrow morning," Ishwari Prasad Pandey, a jailor at the Central Jail in Kathmandu, told news agency Reuters on Thursday.
Pandey added that Sobhraj, 78, was expected to be released on Thursday but it took time to complete the pre-release processes that also included a health check-up.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued an order to free Sobhraj based on a legal provision that prisoners who completed 75% of their jail term and showed good character during imprisonment could be released. "The regulation on prison management envisions a waiver of up to 75 per cent of the jail term of the prisoners over 65 years of age and with good conduct," the verdict read, according to a report by news agency ANI.
ALSO READ | Explained: The life of Charles Sobhraj also known as the âBikini Killerâ and âThe Serpentâ
The court pointed out that Sobhraj had completed 95% of his jail term. It also ordered the French serial killer's deportation to his home country within 15 days of being released.
Charles Sobhraj, who is of Vietnamese and Indian parentage, was linked to murdering more than 20 people throughout Asia. His modus operandi was to charm and befriend his victims, who were strangled, beaten or burned.
Sobhraj was nicknamed ''Bikini Killer'' after two of his victims were found wearing only bikinis. He was also known as ''The Serpent'' for his ability to be deceptive and evading. He had escaped several high-security jails and manipulated the legal system.
Sobhraj was wanted in Nepal for murdering two North American tourists- Connie Jo Bronzich and his Canadian companion Laurent Carrière â in 1975. He was spotted at a hotel in Kathmandu in 2003 and was arrested.
Reacting to the Supreme Court's ruling on Wednesday, Charles Sobhraj's mother-in-law Sakuntala Thapa said on Friday that she was happy and had great respect for the judiciary.
(With inputs from agencies)
WATCH WION LIVE HERE
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.