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Apex court upholds Sobhraj life term
KATHMANDU, JUL 30 -
The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday convicted ‘bikini killer’ Charles Sobhraj for the murder of American tourist Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975 and sentenced him to life in prison.
Based on circumstantial evidence, a joint bench of justices Ram Kumar Prasad Shah and Gauri Dhakal upheld a verdict given by the lower courts—Patan Appellate Court (PAC) in 2005 and Kathmandu District Court (KDC) in 2004—in the case.
The SC said there was enough evidence to corroborate his hand in the murder of Bronzich. “Although there is no direct evidence, based on circumstantial evidence, we don’t see any fault in the decision of the KDC and the PAC. Hence, we uphold their verdict,” Justice Shah said. Sobhraj had moved the SC in 2006 against the earlier verdicts, claiming that he was innocent and he had never been to Nepal before he was arrested from Casino Royale in Kathmandu in 2003.
Among other evidences, government prosecutors had showcased a confession Sobhraj’s then-accomplice Marie-Andrée Leclerc had made with the Indian Police that Sobhraj, she, and another accomplice Ajay Chaudhary had arrived in Kathmandu from Bangkok on December 18, 1975, and Sobhraj apparently murdered Bronzich and her boyfriend Laurent Carriere.
Sobhraj, however, is said to have confessed to the Indian Police of his stay in Kathmandu during the time, but remained silent on his role in the murder of Bronzich, who was stabbed repeatedly before being burnt almost beyond recognition and then dumped on the banks of the Manohara river on the outskirts of Kathmandu, according to government prosecutor Shree Krishna Bhattarai.
“It is a path-breaking verdict. Sobhraj has been convicted for his crime,” said Bhattarai, a government prosecutor who handled the case from the victim’s side. With the SC’s verdict, all legal doors for Sobhraj have been blocked in the country.
Sobhraj’s talent for disguise, evading justice and breaking out of prisons on two continents earned him another sobriquet, ‘The Serpent.’
Following the verdict, Sobhraj’s wife Nihita Biswas, 22, who reportedly married him behind bars in 2008, mocked the country’s judiciary and called the judges “corrupt and sold out.”
Biswas also accused prosecutors of fabricating evidence. “Do not worry Charles. I will fight the rest of my life for justice,” she told media persons, adding that she would also move the International Court of Justice. Legal experts have it that Sobhraj may still face charges in the country for the murder of Bronzich’s boyfriend Laurent Carriere as he had faced trial only for Bronzich’s murder.
Bronzich murder timeline
Dec 18, 1975 Sobhraj, his Indian aide Ajay Chaudhary, and his girlfriend arrive in Kathmandu from Bangkok
Dec 21, 1975 An American backpacker Connie Jo Bronzich, 29, found
murdered and burnt beyond recognition
Dec 23, 1975 Bronzich’s Canadian boyfriend Laurent Ormond Carrière, 26 found murdered
Dec 23, 1975 A man carrying Carrière’s passport slips through the TIA
Sept 2003 Sobhraj arrested from a casino in Kathmandu in connection with the
murders and passport forgery
2004 Kathmandu District Court convicts him of Bronzich’s murder
2005 Patan Appellate Court upholds Kathmandu court verdict
Who is this ‘bikini killer’?
The Supreme Court finally put all doubts to rest: Charles Sobhraj will not be released any time soon. His well-wishers may believe him to be innocent, and as the court itself said, there may not be any direct evidence that frames him in the murder of two foreigners in 1975, but there is enough circumstantial evidence that fully corroborates his hand in the crime.
But who exactly is Charles Sobhraj? And why has he gained notoriety? The answers to these questions lie in the years when Kathmandu was still a hippie town, and backpackers traversed Asia. Sobhraj took advantage of travellers in the 70’s, beguiling them with his charms and striking when they least suspected. In this week’s On Saturday, we trace the history of the man who came to be known as the Bikini Killer.
Posted on: 2010-07-31 09:06
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