Kathmandu (PTI): Charles Sobhraj, a Frenchman of Indian and Vietnamese parentage, was on Friday released from a Nepalese prison on the apex court's order after serving 19 years in jail on murder charges.
Sobhraj was handed over to the immigration authorities to process his papers, officials said.
A joint bench of justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tilak Prasad Shrestha on Wednesday ordered to free 78-year-old from jail.
His release was delayed by a day as the immigration authorities on Thursday requested to postpone his release till Friday citing lack of space to accommodate him.
His release from the Central Prison on Thursday was delayed by a day as the Department of Immigration, where Sobhraj was to be sent for deportation, did not have a separate room ready for him.
The apex court had ordered the government to deport him to the country that issued him passport within 15 days, unless he is wanted in some other case.
Nicknamed "the Bikini Killer" and "the Serpent" due to his skill at deception and evasion, Sobhraj was serving a life-term in the Kathmandu jail since 2003 for the murder of American woman Connie Jo Bronzich in 1975 in Nepal.
In 2014, he was convicted of killing Laurent Carriere, a Canadian backpacker, and given a second life sentence.
A life-term in Nepal means 20 years in jail.
The order by the division bench of Nepal's top court came after Sobhraj filed a plea claiming that he was put in prison more than the period recommended for him.
There is a legal provision to release prisoners who have completed 75 per cent jail term and showed good character during imprisonment.
Sobhraj through his petition had claimed that he had completed his jail term as per the concessions' entitled to senior citizens of Nepal.
He claimed that he had already served 19 of the 20 years of his sentence and had already been recommended for release for good behaviour.
Sobhraj was spotted in a Kathmandu casino in August 2003 and arrested.
He was slapped with a life sentence for the murder after a trial.
He had been linked to multiple killings of backpackers.
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Malappuram (Ker), May 4 (PTI): K V Rabiya, a physically challenged social worker from this district who rose to prominence through her active role in the Kerala state literacy campaign, died at a hospital here on Sunday after a brief illness, sources said.
She was 59. Rabiya had won the Padma Shri for her contributions in the field of social work in 2022.
Rabiya, who was crippled by polio at the age of 14, had to continue her studies from home on a wheelchair.
In June 1992, she began a campaign for adult literacy for illiterate people of all ages at Tirurangadi, near her native place of Vellilakkad in Malappuram district. Through her dedicated work she introduced hundreds of illiterate people to the world of letters.
She started a volunteer organisation named ‘Chalanam’ (motion) and became active in social work in the fields of continuing education, health awareness, and rehabilitation of physically disabled people.
In 2002, she was diagnosed with cancer and successfully underwent chemotherapy and returned to her social activities. She wrote her autobiography ‘Swapnangalku chirakukal undu’ (Dreams have wings) in 2009.
Rabiya received her first national recognition in 1994 when she won the national youth award from the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Rabiya won the Padma Shri in 2002, on the eve of the 73rd Republic Day.
She had also won various honours of the state government and several social organisations.