Mercy for the Merciless: Sobhraj the Slippery Serpent

By Abhilasha Khanal

The infamous French serial killer, Charles Sobhraj, aged seventy-eight, was released from Nepalese prison on Dec. 21, 2022. [1] Known as “The Serpent,” Sobhraj has been implicated in over twenty killings along the hippie trail in Asia, in the 1970s. [2] However, he was only ever convicted of two. [3] He was convicted for the murder of two foreign nationals and was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Nepal. [4] After a petition filed by his lawyers demanding the court to intervene in 2021, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered the immediate release of Sobhraj, citing the Senior Citizen Act of 2006. [5]

Who is Charles Sobhraj?

Charles Sobhraj is a French citizen, born to a Vietnamese mother and an Indian father in the French-administered Saigon, Vietnam, in 1944. [6] His parents split a few years after his birth, and his father abandoned him. [7] Soon after, his mother married a French soldier and moved to France. Everyone who knew Sobhraj said he struggled to settle during his teenage years in France. However, as he grew older, they consistently described him as a handsome and charming con man. [8] His life of crime officially began in 1963 when he was jailed for the first time in Paris for burglary [9]. Over the next decade, he went on to escape from prison in several different countries for different crimes, including robbery, burglary, smuggling, fraud, and eventually murder, enlisting the help of many accomplices along the way. [10]

How many people did Sobhraj murder?

The actual number of murders committed by Sobhraj is still unknown. [11] After interviewing him extensively, journalists Richard Neville and Julie Clarke released a biography on Sobhraj’s life called “The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj.” [12] In their book, they noted that the first killing Sobhraj confessed to was that of a Pakistani driver in 1972. [13] He also confessed to at least twelve killings between 1972 and 1976 and hinted at others to interviewers; however, he retracted the statements just ahead of his court cases. [14] Sobhraj was always elusive and especially hard to catch because he used different methodologies to kill his victims: some were drugged until they overdosed, while others drowned; and some were stabbed while others set alight with gasoline until their bodies were unrecognizable. [15] Sobhraj also used the passports of his victims, by inserting his own picture in place of the victims’, to travel from one country to another, leaving a trail of missing tourists. [16] It was between 1975 and 1976 that Sobhraj and his accomplices allegedly ramped up his murder spree, killing about six tourists in Bangkok, Thailand. [17]

Why was he known as “the Serpent?”

In 1976, two charred bodies were discovered about eighty miles north of Bangkok. Around the same time, the Dutch embassy received a letter inquiring about a Dutch couple, supposedly backpacking in Thailand, who had gone missing for about six weeks. Their identity was confirmed using the missing couple’s dental records. [18] They also received a tip that a large number of passports belonging to missing persons, including that of the Dutch couple, were being collected by a French gem dealer. [19] The Dutch embassy notified the Thai authorities, who stormed Sobhraj’s apartment and brought him in for questioning. [20] However, Sobhraj was prepared with an American passport he had stolen from one of his victims. He was released from custody after claiming a mistaken identity as an American citizen and escaped to Malaysia the next day. [21] This propensity to slip out of every situation, and his charming personality, earned him the title of “The Serpent.” [22]

How did Sobhraj gain notoriety in the world?

In 1976, the Bangkok Post printed a front-page story titled “Web of Death,” detailing the crimes they had discovered in Sobhraj’s apartment. [23] The Thai authorities took notice and notified Interpol, which led to his capture in India in 1976. [24] His conviction for killing two foreign nationals that same year in India was reversed on appeal, but he was found guilty of trying to poison and rob a French tour group. [25] He was sentenced to twelve years in prison, where true to his title, he pulled off the biggest escape of his life merely weeks before his release. [26] He was motivated by the fear that he might get extracted to Thailand, where he was sure to face the death penalty. [27] A few weeks later, Sobhraj was captured again in a different city in India and received an extended sentence. [28]

After twenty-one years in an Indian prison, Sobhraj was released in 1997, and his media presence was amplified. [29]Over the years, many documentaries and biographies have detailed how Sobhraj evaded the law across Asia for decades, as he befriended backpackers and murdered them along the hippie trail. [30] The most recent series, The Serpent, was released by Netflix in 2021. [31] Sobhraj admitted in one of his interviews that he had always wanted his name to be in the spotlight. [32]

Why was he sentenced to life in prison in Nepal?

By the early 2000s, the statute of limitations in all the Asian countries where he allegedly committed murders had expired, except for Nepal. [33] In 2003, Sobhraj was well known worldwide, so when he decided to visit Nepal, he was immediately arrested and convicted of the murder of an American tourist in 1975 and a Canadian tourist later the same year. [34] Sobhraj was convicted by the district courts of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur and was sentenced to life in prison by the Supreme Court of Nepal. [35] His lawyers repeatedly petitioned for an early release due to good behavior and, eventually, his age and frailty. [36]

Why did the Supreme Court of Nepal decide to release Sobhraj?

In 2021, Sobhraj’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition to waive the rest of his jail sentence, citing the Senior Citizen Act of 2006. [37] Under Clause 12(1)(c) of the Senior Citizen Act of 2006, “a senior citizen who has been imposed the punishment of imprisonment in a government case and serving the sentence, the sentence of imprisonment as follows may be rebated in view of his or her age and the nature of offense: . . . Not exceeding Seventy-Five percent in the case of the senior citizen who has completed the age of Seventy-Five years.” [38] Here, Sobhraj was well over seventy-five years of age and had served nineteen years in prison, about ninety-five percent of his sentence. Thus, the Supreme Court ordered his release immediately. Additionally, Sobhraj had a weak heart and required open heart surgery, which was not readily available in Nepal.

Where is Charles Sobhraj now?

Since his release in December 2022, Sobhraj has settled into domestic life in France. [39] While there is no update about his health, he released an autobiography in February 2022 titled “Moi, Le Serpent.” [40] In addition to the autobiography, he has also appeared as a guest in several French talk shows, with his lawyer always at his side. [41] A recent article on Air Mail stated, “[p]rison does not seem to scare Sobhraj. His biggest fear appears to be anonymity.” [42]

[1]	Alex Hardie, Sugam Pokharel, Nepal’s top court orders release of infamous French serial killer, Charles “The Serpent” Sobhraj, (last visited Apr. 7, 2023), https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/21/asia/the-serpent-charles-sobhraj-nepal-release-intl/index.html.
[2]	Julia Hollingsworth, Adam Renton, From diplomat to detective, this man helped bring Asia’s notorious ‘Serpent’ killer to justice, (last visited Apr. 7, 2023), https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/13/asia/serpent-bikini-killer-sobhraj-intl-hnk-dst/index.html.
[3]	Id.
[4]	Id.
[5]	Kathmandu Post, Supreme Court frees serial killer Charles Sobhraj, (last visited Apr. 7, 2023). https://kathmandupost.com/national/2022/12/21/supreme-court-orders-release-of-charles-sobhraj.
[6]	Hollingsworth, supra note 2.
[7]	Id.
[8]	Id.
[9]	Hardie, supra note 1.
[10]	Hollingsworth, supra note 2.
[11]	Hardie, supra note 1.
[12]	Hollingsworth, supra note 2.
[13]	Id.
[14]	Id.
[15]	Id.
[16]	Id.
[17]	Id.
[18]	Id.
[19]	Id.
[20]	Id.
[21]	Id.
[22]	Id.
[23]	Wassayos Ngamkham, ‘Serpent’ a huge TV draw, (last visited Apr. 7, 2023), https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/2116295/serpent-a-huge-tv-draw.
[24]	Id.
[25]	Hollingsworth, supra note 2.
[26]	Id.
[27]	Id.
[28]	Id.
[29]	Id.
[30]	Hardie, supra note 1.
[31]	Id.
[32]	Hollingsworth, supra note 2.
[33]	Id.
[34]	Anup Ojha, French serial killer Charles Sobhraj to be freed today, (last visited Apr. 7, 2023), https://kathmandupost.com/national/2022/12/23/french-serial-killer-charles-sobhraj-to-be-freed-today.
[35]	Id.
[36]	Id.
[37]	Id.
[38]	Senior Citizens Act, Act number 22 of the year 2063 (2006), An Act Made to Provide for Protection and Social Security of Senior Citizens, (Effective Nov. 24, 2006).
[39]	Matthew Plale, Charles Sobhraj, subject of The Serpent, back in spotlight after prison release, (last visited Apr. 7. 2023), https://www.joblo.com/charles-sobhraj-subject-of-the-serpent-back-in-spotlight-after-prison-release.
[40]	Id.
[41]	Id.
[42]	Id.