About Charles Sobhraj
Charles Sobhraj (born Hotchand Bhawnani Gurmukh Sobhraj; 6 April 1944) is a French serial killer, fraudster, and thief whose victims were mainly Western tourists travelling on the hippie trail of South Asia during the 1970s. He is of Sindhi and Vietnamese origin. He was known as the Bikini Killer because of the attire of several of his victims, as well as the Splitting Killer and the Serpent for "his snake-like ability to avoid detection by authorities". It is thought that Sobhraj murdered at least 20 tourists in South and Southeast Asia, including 14 in Thailand. He was convicted and jailed in India from 1976 to 1997. After his release he returned to France. Sobhraj went to Nepal in 2003, where he was arrested, tried, and given a life sentence. On 21 December 2022, the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered his release from prison because of his old age, after he had served 19 years of his prison term. On 23 December 2022, he was released and deported to France. Described as "handsome, charming and utterly without scruple", he used his looks and cunning to advance his criminal career and obtain celebrity status; he is known to have enjoyed his infamy. Sobhraj has been the subject of four biographies, three documentaries, a Bollywood film titled Main Aur Charles, a 2021 eight-part BBC/Netflix drama series The Serpent and the 2025 Netflix India series Black Warrant and the film Inspector Zende. His name was entered as Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj in church records in 1959. Sobhraj and André became partners in crime, participating in various criminal activities in both Turkey and Greece. Dominated by Sobhraj, Leclerc became his most devoted follower, turning a blind eye to his crimes and his philandering with local women.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.