True Crime Friday: Charles Sobhraj, the Bikini Serial Killer
Charles Sobhraj was born April 6, 1944, in South Asia. He was born under the name Hotchand Bhawnani Gurmukh Sobhraj. He changed it to Charles Sobhraj. Charles Sobhraj is a prolific serial killer, con artist and thief. His victims were mainly Western tourists travelling on the Hippie Trail in South Asia during the seventies. He was known as the Bikini Killer because of the attire his victims mostly women were wearing when they were found dead. He had other monikers such as the Splitting Killer and the Serpent for his ability to avoid detection by the authorities. It is suspected that Sobhraj murdered at least twenty tourists that were visiting the area. He would inject his victims with drugs and steal their money and passports before killing them.
The Early Childhood of Charles Sobhraj
Charles Sobhraj was born in Saigon within the Indochinese Union.His father was an Indian Sinhi and his mother was Vietnamese. Sobhraj's birthplace was a French colonial territory which made him eligible for French citizenship. His parents were never married and his father denied paternity. His father wanted nothing to do with his child. In fact, he said there was something evil about Charles. His mother also said the child was not right and she was afraid of him.
His mother would eventually meet a man, and they married making him Sobhraj stepfather. Her new husband was a French Army Lieutenant stationed in French Indochina. Charles was considered stateless which means he was not considered legal until he was granted a passport to move to France. His name was entered as Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj in church records in 1959. When his parents started having additional children, he felt neglected by them. He did not fit in with his new family and tried many times to reconnect with this father who continued to ignore him.
Sobhraj began committing crimes when he became a teenager. He was arrested for burglary in 1963. He served his sentence in a Paris prison. Sobhraj while in prison was able to use his charms to manipulate authorities in granting him special favors. Many feared him because he seemingly had special powers to convince people to commit crimes for him. In fact, he was in several prisons and was treated like a king. His food was shipped into the prison. He held parties for the guards and gave their families money. When he was in prison, he met Felix d'Escogne, a wealthy young man and prison volunteer. When he was released for the first time from prison, Sobhraj moved in with d'Escogne and spent his time moving between the high society of Paris and the criminal underworld.
This story is long and complicated, so I must shorten it to discuss all his victims which are plentiful. He began accumulating riches through a series of burglaries and scams.
The Victims of Charles Sobhraj
- Teresa Knowlton
- Charmayne Carrou
- Henk Bintanja
- Cornelia Hemke
- Vitali Hakim
- Connie Bronzich
- Laurent Ormond Carrière
- Avoni Jacob
- Ajay Chowdhury
- Jean-Luc Solomon
- Pakistani taxi driver
- Dominique Renelleau
The Survivors of Charles Sobhraj
- Chantal Compagnon
- David Allen Gore
The Accomplices of Charles Sobhraj
- Ajay Chowdhury
- Marie Leclerc
- Barbara Smith
- Mary Ellen Eather
Lady Justice
He was jailed in India from 1976 to 1997. After his release he was returned to France. Sobhraj went to Nepal in 2003, where he was arrested and given a life sentence. On December 21, 2022, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered his release from prison because of his old age. He had served nineteen years in prison. Charles Sobhraj was deported back to France in 2022.It was said that he used his looks to seduce the people around him, Many said that he had no scruples. He used his looks and cunning ways to advance his criminal career and obtain celebrity status.