He received his first jail sentence for burglary in 1963; he served at Poissy prison near Paris. His lawyers announced that his wife, Chantal Compagnon, was filing a case before the European Court of Human Rights against the French government for not aiding her husband. His mother blamed Charles for her separation from Charles' father. Charles next two years were spent running away from authorities; he used stolen passports and traveled to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. On 18 September 2014, Sobhraj was convicted in the Bhaktapur district court of the 1975 murder of Canadian tourist Laurent Carrire, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Charles Sobhraj Father: Who Was Sobhraj Hatchard Bavani? [41], Sobhraj has been the subject of three non-fiction books, Serpentine (1979) by Thomas Thompson,[42] The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj (1980) by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke,[43] and the section titled "The Bikini Murders" by Noel Barber in the Reader's Digest collection Great Cases of Interpol (1982). I am innocent.. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. In an interview, Charles talked about his arrival and arrest in Nepal and quoted, This is a huge miscarriage of justice. Charles reportedly sold the rights to a movie based on his life for US$15 million (equivalent to $20 million in 2020). His parents never married and his father abandoned their family when Sobhraj was still a kid. His younger half-brother, Andr, became his partner in crime later in Turkey and Greece. His next victim was a Frenchman named Jean-Luc Solomon, whom Charles intended to rob in a South Delhi hotel but died due to poisoning. In 2008, the book The Bikini Murders by Farrukh Dhondy was released. Described as "handsome, charming and utterly without scruple",[11] he used his looks and cunning to advance his criminal career and obtain celebrity status; he is known to have enjoyed his infamy. In 1963, Sobhraj went to jail for the first time, charged with burglary at Poissy prison near Paris. During his prison time in Nepal, he was visited by an assassin who had come to kill Charles prison inmate on orders of a bigwig. Sobhraj arrives in Paris on commercial flight after release from Nepalese prison on health grounds. Sobhraj was dissatisfied with the lead characters resemblance [in the book] to him and said that Farrukh had no right to base his character on him and would file a case against him (the author). Sobhraj's next victim was a Frenchman, Jean-Luc Solomon, who was poisoned during a robbery. He gave several interviews where the murders came up in conversations, but he never admitted to them. He went to Kabul with his family where the couple continued their criminal activities. Sobhraj was charged with the murder of Solomon and all four were sent to Tihar Jail in New Delhi. As a wealthy tailor who divided his time between his homes and shops in Pune, India, and Saigon, Vietnam, Sobhraj Hatchard Bavani lived out of suitcases, traveling from one place to another most of the time quite a bit like his son did later on in life. Born to an unmarried couple, Charles' birth separated his parents. Before the autopsy, Teresa was believed to have accidentally drowned while swimming. She even claimed that she never loved Charles. Charles lived a luxurious prison life in India; he had a television, a room, and gourmet food, something that can only be imagined in Tihar. Earlier, it was suspected that Teresa had drowned accidentally while swimming, but months later, autopsy reports showed that she was murdered. Upon his return to Thailand, Charles followers (Yannick, Jacques, and Rennelleau) grew suspicious of him after they discovered Pattaya victims documents at Charles apartment; they reported Charles to the police. Charles Sobhraj Parents, Early Life. The first victim was a young woman from Seattle, Teresa Knowlton (named Jennie Bollivar in the book Serpentine), who was found drowned in a tidal pool in the Gulf of Thailand, wearing a flowered bikini. Sobhraj had appealed against the Kathmandu district court's verdict in 2006, calling it unfair. Without any country to extradite him to, Indian authorities let him return to France. Darreau adopted Charles and was a good father to him; Darreau did not give Charles his name. In Nepal, between December 21 and 22, 1975, they murdered. In Tihar Jail in Delhi, he had a library for himself. Smith and Eather attempted suicide in prison two years before their trial. Charles Sobhraj, a French serial killer who police say is responsible for a series of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, has been released from prison in Nepal. Sobhraj proposed marriage to Compagnon, but was arrested later the same day for attempting to evade police while driving a stolen vehicle. [27], Back in Asia, Sobhraj started forming a new criminal group, starting with two Western women, Barbara Smith and Mary Ellen Eather, in Bombay. Charles had his base in an apartment complex called Kanit House in Bangkok, Thailand. The con was a success as foreign tourists were lured, converted to his followers, and later Charles stole from them. Sobhraj was able to escape, with Compagnon's help, by faking illness, but was recaptured shortly thereafter. CHARLES SOBHRAJ'S EARLY YEARS . As they recovered, Sobhraj was visited by his previous victim Hakim's French girlfriend, Charmayne Carrou, who had come to investigate her boyfriend's disappearance. The day he proposed Chantal for marriage, he was sent to Poissy prison, charged for car theft. In 2003, he was recognised in the streets of Kathmandu by a journalist who informed the authorities. The morning fog was dense. Darreau did not give his name to Charles but was a very kind father to him. [40], In 2010, he married his Indian-Nepali interpreter, Nihita Biswas, in prison. His first known murders in Thailand took place in 1975 and are believed to be motivated by victims threat to expose Charles. Clarke was very relieved when they left Delhi. He passed through various countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. His companions reported Charles to the police. Andr was extradited to Turkey where he served 18 months in jail. His name was entered as Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj in church records in 1959. On July 10, 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict against Charles; he was sentenced to life imprisonment with an additional one year, a fine of Rs. [3]Scroll.in, He is of Sindhi and Vietnamese descent. By 1970, Compagnon was pregnant with Sobhrajs child. The next victim was a young nomadic Turkish Sephardic Jew, Vitali Hakim, whose burnt body was found on the road to the Pattaya resort, where Sobhraj and his growing clan were staying. He hired a publicity agent to charge interviewers and photographers a large sum of money for his interviews and pictures. You abandon him worse than a dog, worse than for the lowest beast!!! The verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court of Nepal on July 30, 2010. On December 18, 1975, the day Hemker and Bintajas bodies were identified, Charles and Marie-Andre entered Nepal on the passport of Hemker and Bintaja. In 1964, Charles and Desnoyers welcomed their son, Pranck. Charles Sobhraj after his release from Tihar Jail. I am innocent.. . [44], The 2015 Hindi film Main Aur Charles, directed by Prawaal Raman and Cyznoure Network, is reportedly based on Charles Sobhraj's escape from Tihar Jail in New Delhi. Charles Sobhraj with his daughter Muriel Anouk. [30], On 1 September 2003, Sobhraj was spotted by a journalist for The Himalayan Times in a casino in Kathmandu. Sobhraj used the passport to travel with Leclerc and Chowdhury; first to Singapore, then to India, and, in March 1976, returning to Bangkok, despite knowing that the authorities there sought him. In September 2014, the Bhaktapur District Court gave its conviction on Charles in the murder of Canadian tourist Laurent Carrire. [24], On 18 December, the day the bodies of Bintanja and Hemker were identified, Sobhraj and Leclerc entered Nepal using the deceased couple's passports. [16] A source later claimed to have sighted Chowdhury in West Germany, but the claim appeared unsubstantiated, so the search for Chowdhury continued. Charles had his base in an apartment complex called Kanit House in Bangkok, Thailand, where he was joined by Ajay Chowdhury, a young Indian man, and fellow criminal who became his right-hand man. Sobhraj was joined by his younger half-brother, Andr, in Istanbul. He was expected to be sentenced to death but received a 12-year imprisonment instead. Voice Of Quotations. In France, he lived in Marseilles. The Serpent true story reveals that serial killer Charles Sobhraj is believed to have killed at least a dozen people in the 1970s, possibly up to 24. In July 2010, the Supreme Court of Nepal postponed the verdict of appeal filed by Charles on the judgment of the district court against him. He knew that he would be turned over to the Thai authorities and face almost certain execution as soon as he was released. Sobhraj, who had entered with precious gems concealed in his body and was experienced in bribing captors, was living comfortably in jail. Charles Sobhraj as a Child (1956) After his parent's separation, his mother got married to her boyfriend in French Indochina, which led him to grow up between Indochina and France. Charles loves reading and writing. The Nepal police raided the casino and arrested Sobhraj (who was gambling there) and reopened the double murder case from 1975 against Sobhraj. In 2008, Charles announced his engagement to Nihita Biswas, daughter of the lawyer of Charles, Shakuntala Thapa. Nihita and Charles met when Nihita came to help Charles and her mother as a translator. Neville was accompanied by his future wife, Julie Clarke, who has frequently written about him. He even involved his family in gambling. In 1970, Sobhraj left France with Compagnon, who was pregnant at that time. According to Farrukh. Charles escaped the prison and came to Goa. He was successful in getting out of Marseilles two times; he was found and returned to the port both times. To tackle this, in March 1986, Charles planned a prison escape by throwing a party (for prison inmates and authorities) and drugging the food. He gave interviews to Western authors and journalists, such as Oz magazine's Richard Neville in 1977 and Alan Dawson in 1984. Charles Sobhraj was finally caught in Delhi in July 1976, after three French students escaped his attempt to poison them and informed the police, who charged him for the murder of Solomon. Soon, her mother married her French boyfriend, Lieutenant Alphonse Darreau, who adopted Charles but refused to give him his name. His other known victims were Canadian Laurent Carrire and American Connie Bronzich (killed in Nepal), Israeli scholar Avoni Jacob (killed in Varanasi or Calcutta), and French Jean-Luc Solomon (in Bombay). He wanted to get to his birth father, so he traveled in them. On 30 July 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the life sentence issued by the district court for the murder of Connie Jo Bronzich, plus another year and a Rs 2,000 fine for entering Nepal illegally. After Charles returned to France, he lived a comfortable life in suburban Paris. Thompson's family believed that the liver disease that caused his death was contracted . In July 1976 in New Delhi, Sobhraj and his three-women gang (Marie, Eather, and Smith) were arrested at a hotel after three postgraduate students (from a group of French postgraduate students) reported them, seeing their comrades falling unconscious by the drug that was given to them. In 2008, Farrukh Dhondy released his book The Bikini Murders in which the lead character was based on Charles Sobhraj. He then fled to Kabul, where he robbed the travelers on the hippie trail between Europe and Eastern Asia and was arrested and kept at an Afghan prison. In 1971, Charles and his family fled to Kabul, where he established contacts for illegal gun smuggling. He is also a client of Isabelle Coutant-Peyne, a French lawyer who is married to terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Their bodies were found strangled and burned on 16 December 1975. He served his sentence in Tihar Jail where he bribed the officers and led a lavish life. April 2, 2021. IANS INDIA. who was sent back to live with Compagnon's parents in France. Who Was Charles Sobhraj's Biological Father? He was still a teenager when he started committing petty crimes and in 1963, he served his first jail sentence for burglary at the Poissy prison near Paris. . On December 18, 1975, Charles and Marie-Andre entered Nepal on the passports of Hemker and Bintaja, and the same day, their bodies were identified by investigators. During World War II, Charles Sobhraj was born in Saigon to his father, Sobhraj Hatchard Bavani and mother, Tran Loan Phung. ", "Nepal court convicts 'Bikini killer' Charles Sobhraj of second murder", "Charles Sobhraj ties the knot with Nihita Biswas", "Sobhraj wedding a farce: Nepal jail authorities", "Video of Shakuntala Thapa claiming "judiciary is corrupt", "SC orders judicial custody for Nihita, Shakuntala", "Testimony of a Surgeon Operating on Charles Sobhraj", "Serial killer The Serpent, Charles Sobhraj, deported from Nepal", "Charles Sobhraj, dernires nouvelles du "Serpent", "First Look: Randeep Hooda plays Charles Sobhraj in 'Main Aur Charles', "Netflix Boards BBC's 'The Serpent,' Starring Tahar Rahim as Serial Killer (EXCLUSIVE)", "The true story behind Netflix's newest crime drama was too bizarre for TV", Sobhrajs Past Revives via his wife Nihita Big Boss 5, Cop who investigated 1975 murders settles score as lawyer, "Asia's most infamous serial killer gets life", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Sobhraj&oldid=1147665129, Guilty, Released in December 2022 due to old age, Thailand, Nepal, India, Malaysia, France, Afghanistan, Turkey, Greece, This page was last edited on 1 April 2023, at 11:39. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. During the same time, he met Chantel Compagnon. His mothers name is Tran Loang Phun/Song, who was a bar hostess and shop assistant. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. He was jailed in India for poisoning a group of French tourists in the capital, Delhi, in 1976, before he could stand trial on the charges against him in Thailand. Charles even employed his family in his newfound hobby of gambling. [5] He was convicted and jailed in India from 1976 to 1997. He strangled Dutch students Henk Bintanja and Cornelia Hemker and burned their bodies, and later murdered Hakim's French girlfriend Charmayne Carrou, who had come to Sobhraj looking for Hakim. The films story follows the escape of Charles from Tihar jail. It was quiet as a grave. The film was based on Charles escape from Tihar jail and starred Randeep Hooda (as Charles). Also Known As: Hotchand Bhawnani Gurumukh Charles Sobhraj, Spouse/Ex-: Nihita Biswas (m. 2008), Late Chantal, See the events in life of Charles Sobhraj in Chronological Order, (French Serial Killer, Fraudster, and Thief), http://www.news18.com/newstopics/charles-sobhraj.html, https://www.indiatimes.com/culture/who-we-are/12-things-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-about-the-infamous-charles-sobhraj-233025.html. Charles Sobhraj is popular for his hold over women, both in and out of jail. Although there were no connections between their (Charmayne and Teresa) murders at that time, media reports dubbed their murderers The Bikini Killer because of their similar murder style. Statue depicting Sobhraj at the O'Coqueiro Restaurant, "International Serial Killer Charles Sobhraj, 64, Engaged to Woman, 20", "Serial Killer Charles Sobhraj's Wife Nihita Biswas On His Plans After Release", "Sobhraj finally Convicted & Life-sentenced", "Supreme Court orders release of Charles Sobhraj", "Nepal court to release serial killer Charles 'the serpent' Sobhraj", "On the trail of the serpent the fatal charm of Charles Sobhraj", "Bikini killer Charles Sobhraj and his complete life story! [17], In 1973, Sobhraj was arrested and imprisoned after an unsuccessful armed robbery attempt on a jewellers at The Ashok, in New Delhi. In Kashmir, India, he met Marie-Andre Leclerc who was looking for adventure. Because of Neville's hippie trail connections, Random House offered him a contract to go to Delhi to research the case, even though he and Clarke, both journalists in New York City, had no experience in crime reporting. His other two accomplices, Marie and Eather, attempted suicide in prison two years before their trial. He was arrested on 19 September in the Yak and Yeti hotels casino. Charles Sobhrajs trial was a sight-worth-watching with Charles hiring and firing lawyers at will, bringing his paroled brother (Andre) to assist him, and putting on a hunger strike. They left France and travelled through Eastern Europe, carrying fake documents, conning foreigners out of their money, and eventually arriving in Bombay (now Mumbai). Charles returned to Bangkok in 1976, before fleeing to India (where he murdered Avoni), Singapore, and back to India. Sobhraj has been the subject of four biographies, three documentaries, an Indian film titled Main Aur Charles, and the 2021 eight-part BBC/Netflix drama series The Serpent. It was around this time, he was considered to have a curio shop in Bangkok, where Charles lured his victims and stole their belonging by drugging; sometimes the victims died by drug overdose.
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