Nepal SC orders release of serial killer Charles Sobhraj on health grounds

Charles Sobhraj is serving a 19-year jail term in Nepal since 2003 on murder charges

Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who is serving a 19-year jail term in the country since 2003 on murder charges, on health grounds.

A joint bench of justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tilak Prasad Shrestha passed the ruling to free 78-year-old Sobhraj from jail, according to Supreme Court sources.

The order by the division bench of Nepal's top court came after Shobraj filed a plea claiming that he was put in prison more than the period recommended for him.

There is a legal provision to release prisoners who have completed 75 per cent jail term and showed good character during imprisonment.

The court verdict has also asked the concerned authority to arrange for Sobharj to return to his country within 15 days.

Sobhraj through his petition had claimed that he had completed his jail term as per the concessions' entitled to senior citizens of Nepal.

He claimed that he had already served 17 of the 20 years of his sentence and had already been recommended for release for behaving well.

Sobhraj, also known as bikini killer, was spotted in a Kathmandu casino in August 2003. District Court, Bhaktapur, had slapped him with a life sentence for the murder of American citizen Connie Jo Bronzich and Canadian citizen Laurent Carriere in 1975.