‘Serpent killer’ Charles Sobhraj arrives in France after two decades behind bars in Nepal

Shobhraj was being held at a high-security prison in Nepal since 2003

Notorious serial killer Charles Sobhraj arrived in France on Saturday after spending nearly two decades behind bars in Nepal.

Shobhraj, 78, is accused of killing a number of western tourists in Asia and is commonly referred to as the “bikini killer”.

The convicted killer was serving a life sentence in Nepal but was ordered to be released by a Nepal court earlier this week on grounds of poor health, good behaviour, and having already served most of his sentence.

Shobhraj was being held in a high-security prison in Nepal since 2003, when he was arrested on charges of murdering American backpacker Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975.

He was later found guilty of killing Bronzich’s Canadian friend, Laurent Carriere, and had served 19 years out of a 20-year sentence.

During his flight out of Nepal, Shobhraj told AFP that he was not guilty of murdering Bronzich and Carriere and that the case against him was built on fake documents.

“I have a lot to do. I have to sue a lot of people,” he said.

Sobhraj’s release comes as a shock to many as he had gained infamy after police accused him of a string of murders in the seventies and eighties.

French serial killer Charles Sobhraj sits in an aircraft departing from Kathmandu to France (AFP via Getty Images)

He has also been called the “bikini killer” and “The serpent”, with the latter monicker used as the title of a Netflix series based on his crimes.

Sobhraj was labeled “The serpent” for his evasion of police and use of disguises.

He is suspected of killing more than 20 Western backpackers on the “hippie trail” through Asia, usually by drugging their food or drink in the course of robbing them.

He was also suspected to have killed a group of French nationals in Delhi and six women in Thailand.

He has also in the past broken out of Delhi’s highly secured Tihar jail by poisoning guards and was notorious for his apparent flamboyant lifestyle. When he was in Tihar jail, Sobhraj was reportedly allowed to party during the weekends and was allowed conjugal visits from “fans”.

The true number of victims of Sobhraj’s alleged crimes remains unknown to date, but he remains a peculiar figure in Asia.

Additional reporting by agencies