Charles Sobhraj: No mercy

Kathmandu, July 30: Nepal’s Supreme Court today upheld a life imprisonment sentence on “bikini killer” Charles Sobhraj for murdering an American backpacker in 1975.

Announcing the verdict, a division bench comprising Justices Ram Kumar Prasad Shah and Gauri Dhakal upheld the 20-year sentence awarded to Sobhraj by the lower courts. The bench declared that Sobhraj was convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence. It had earlier postponed the verdict for 15 days, saying it needed more time to prepare the judgment.

In 2004, the Kathmandu district court had convicted Sobhraj for the murder of backpacker Connie Jo Bronzich in Kathmandu. Sobhraj contested the judgment which was later upheld by the Patan appellate court in 2005.

In his appeal, Sobhraj, who is a French national, pleaded that he did not visit Nepal in 1975 and, therefore, was not involved in any murder.

Public prosecutor Sree Krishna Bhattarai told reporters that the Supreme Court bench said Sobhraj was convicted mainly on the basis of a confessional statement made by his alleged accomplice Mary before an Indian magistrate.

In her confession, which was later broadcast by All India Radio, Mary claimed that three persons, including Sobhraj and herself, were present in Kathmandu when Bronzich was murdered.

Following the apex court’s ruling, Sobhraj’s fiancée Nihita Biswas and her lawyer mother, Shakuntala Thapa, claimed that the judiciary in Nepal was extremely corrupt.

“We will continue to fight the case and explore all possible legal avenues. We will go to India to establish the veracity of the statement upon which his conviction is based,” they said.

Sobhraj, who became famous, for his alleged crimes in several Asian countries including the Tihar jail break in India, returned to Nepal on September 1, 2003.

He was exploring the possibility of setting up a mineral water business. Sobhraj was spotted gambling in a casino by a journalist of The Himalayan Times who eventually broke the story on September 17. Sobhraj was arrested two days later by a special team of the Nepal police.

Later, the police dug up the 1975 twin murders of Bronzich and another backpacker and filed charges against Sobhraj.