Bikini Killer gets life sentence for murder in Nepal

A COURT in Nepal yesterday sentenced notorious criminal Charles Sobhraj, also known as the ‘Serpent’ and the ‘Bikini Killer’, to life imprisonment for killing an American backpacker in 1975.

Sobhraj, a master of disguise and escape whose exploits across Asia have spawned two books and a movie, was arrested while gambling in an upmarket hotel casino in the heart of Kathmandu in September last year.

The 60-year-old French national was initially charged in the same court with using a forged passport while travelling to Nepal. He was later cleared of that charge.