Charles Sobhraj, a Frenchman of Indian and Vietnamese parentage, wasܫ on Friday released from a Nepalese prison on the apex court's order after serving 19 years in ja🌊il on murder charges.
Sobhraj was handed over to the immigration authorities to ܫprocess his papers, officials said.
A joint bench of justices Sapa🅘na Pradhan Malla and Tilak Prasad Shrestha on Wednesday ordered to free 78-yღear-old from jail.
His release was del🍌ayed by a day as the immigration authorities on Thursday requested to postpo♋ne his release till Friday citing lack of space to accommodate him.
His release from the Central Prison on Thursday was delayed by a day as the Department of Immigration, where Sobhraj was to be sent for deportation, did 🥂not have a separate room ready for him.
The apex cour🌊t had ordered the government to deport him to the country that issued him passport within 15 days, unless he is wanted in some other case.
Nicknamed "the Bikini Killer" and "the Serpent" due to his skill at deception and evasion, Sobharaj was serving a life-term in the Kathmandu jail since 2003 for the murder of American wꦑoman Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975 in Nepal.
In 2014, he was convicted o✱f killing Laurent Carriere, a Canadian backpacker, and given a second life sentence.
A life-term in Nepal means 20 years in jail.
The order by the division bench of Nepal's top court came after Sobhraj filed a ꦯplea claiming that he was put in prison more than the peri💝od recommended for him.
There is a legal provision to release prisoners who have completed 75 per cent jail term and showed good charac⛦ter during imprisonment.
Sobhraj through his petition had claimed that he had completed his jai𓆉l term as per the ‘concessions’ entitled to senior citiz🎃ens of Nepal.
He claimed that he hadᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ already served 19 of the 20 years of his sentence and had already been𓃲 recommended for release for good behaviour.
Sobhraj was spotted in a Kathmandu casino in August 2003 and arrested. He was slapped with a life sentence for the murder🔥 after a trial. He had been linked to multiple killings of backpackers.
