Nepal SC sentences 'bikini killer'Sobhraj to life

Kathmandu, July 30 (ANI): Nepal's Supreme Court on Friday slapped a life sentence on Charles Sobhraj, the "bikini killer", for murdering American tourist Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975.

A division bench comprising Justices Ram Kumar Prasad Shah and Gauri Dhakal upheld the verdict of the Kathmandu District Court and the Patan Appellate Court, which found him guilty of murdering Bronzich.

The apex court said enough evidence has been provided by the prosecution against Sobhraj.

This is the first in a series of several murder cases against Sobhraj.

Earlier, Sobhraj's lawyers argued that there was no concrete evidence to convict him in the three-decade-old murder case.

Sobhraj is also accused of killing over 20 young western backpackers across Asia, usually by drugging their food or drink, while on a criminal spree in the 1970s and 1980s.

Thailand issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of drugging and killing six girls, all wearing bikinis, at the beach resort town of Pattaya in 1975. He was jailed in India before he could stand trial on those charges.

A master of disguise and escape, Sobhraj served more than two decades in and out of Indian jails on a string of charges including murder and robbery before returning to France in 1997.

Born to an Indian father and a Vietnamese mother, his criminal exploits are spread across Asia have and been the subject of a film, two books and countless newspaper and magazine articles. (ANI)