A real life Serpent killer is set to be released from prison following a top court ruling in his favour.
Charles Sobhraj is to be freed from a Nepal prison after spending 19 years in jail for the murder of two tourists in Nepal's capital Kathmandu in 1975.
Sobhraj has been linked to as many as 24 tourist murders, and also spent 20 years in prison in India.
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During that time, he managed to escape prison by drugging the prison guards - though he later claimed he escaped so that his sentence could be extended to avoid extradition to Thailand, where he was wanted for another five murders.
Before his now imminent release, Sobhraj was convicted in two separate trials, with the most recent being in 2014.
Each of the sentences handed down on him was for 20 years for the murder of two women in Kathmandu.
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Both American Connie Jo Bronzich and her Canadian backpacker friend Laurent Carriere fell a victim to Sobhraj's wicked ways.
However, on Wednesday (21 December), Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the killer's release after his legal team claimed he should be released early due to his age and good behaviour while in prison.
A provision in Nepalese law allowed for this to happen, as it states any inmates who have shown good behaviour and completed 75 percent of their jail term should be released early.
According to the AFP, Sobhraj's lawyer thinks he could be released as early as Thursday.
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The killer has also been ordered to return to France within 15 days of his release.
The verdict read: "Keeping him in the prison continuously is not in line with the prisoner's human rights."
In 2020, the BBC and Netflix made a programme about Sobhraj and his killings in the drama The Serpent.
The eight-part series told the story of how Sobhraj managed to escape prison and also his tendency to target young women.
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French actor Tahar Rahim played the killer, in a series which has been watched by more than 31 million Brits.
And it seems now that Sobhraj is set to be released, he may bank on his title as 'The Serpent' even more.
In an interview with The Mirror in 2021, Sobhraj said he wanted to make a lucrative film deal about his life with Richard Branson.
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Speaking from his prison cell, Sobhraj claimed that Virgin founder Branson would be interested.
Now he is out, Sobhraj can ask for himself.
Callum Jones