There was a time when people used to believe that there is no prison that Charles Sobhraj cannot escape from. He escaped from Afghani prisons to India’s ‘most secure’ Tihar Jail. At a birthday party held inside the jail, he mysteriously escaped leaving everyone unconscious.
His escape started the greatest manhunt. Apart from India, Sobhraj was ‘most wanted’ in at least eight countries. Nepal’s prison was not that difficult for him either.
At one given time, Charles Sobhraj had a computer and a mobile phone at his disposal in his prison cell, meaning he could talk to anyone whenever he wanted. Perhaps that is why the infamous bikini killer had his fair share of romance inside the jail too. And unlike other people, he had no problems meeting his girlfriend-turned-wife Nihita Biswas.
But, as he got released from the Nepali jail after completing his sentence and was immediately deported to France, it seems his so-called marriage with Nihita Biswas has come to an end. Both of them have expressed in their behaviour that they are no more intimate.
The prisoner’s wedding
On October 9, 2008, Charles Sobhraj married 22-year-old Nihita Biswas inside the jail. At 66, Sobhraj fell in love with and married a girl, 44 years younger than him. Yet the jailer did not know about it.
It is not certain when Biswas first met Sobhraj.
According to Sobhraj’s associates, he had issued an advertisement in the newspaper looking for a Nepali-French translator for his legal battle. And, Biswas, the daughter of his lawyer Shakuntala Biswas, had also applied for the job. Sobhraj chose her as her mother too was a lawyer. Within two weeks of the conversation, they revealed in an interview that they were in love.
After the wedding, she used to visit him in jail, many times. If Charles Sobhraj was brought to a court, she used to speak to the media in favour of Sobhraj. Because of her connection with Sobhraj, she also got a chance to participate in season 5 of India’s famous reality show, Bigg Boss.
According to a source in prison, Sobhraj used to address her as his wife and call her mother, Shakuntala Biswas, his mother-in-law. In an interview published in the book Uni, Nihita Biswas shared that Charles Sobhraj is as agile and romantic as his 25-year-old self is intellectually mature. Rhetorically, she had asked there, “Is love only physical?”
Fidelity fading?
Meanwhile, in recent years, Charles Sobhraj was seen struggling with financial issues inside the prison. According to an inmate close to Sobhraj, “Everybody feels like eating something sweet or crave something. But, he did not have money many times.”
Another source claims that as Sobhraj was living a difficult life in prison, Biswas was moving away from his life. After a few years, she stopped going to jail to meet Sobhraj. But, he would keep calling her from jail. Shakuntala Biswas also started visiting less.
Just three months ago, she shared that she stopped following Charles’s case. “Someone else is looking after his case. You might find something interesting there.”
Avoidance is priority A
After the Supreme Court ordered the release of Charles Sobhraj on Wednesday, Nihita Biswas could not be reached for any comment. Shakuntala Biswas meanwhile said that she was happy to hear that Sobhraj was going to be free now and shared she would look into it more the next day.
According to an aide who helped Sobhraj in his legal battle, the mother-daughter duo of Biswas did not cooperate in the battle recently. “When we had called them to the court, it was very difficult. Even when asked for the documents, there was not much help from their side.”
Another source says, “Charles Sobhraj knows everything about what they did and did not do during the legal procedures. That is why he hired others.”
When Sobhraj got released, a new jacket, shoes and other clothes were bought for him. His family and relatives sent the expenses from France and his lawyers made all the arrangements.
It was the same on Wednesday. Sobhraj had to bring a letter from Bhaktapur District Court to get out of jail. According to the source, Nihita Biswas had told his lawyers that she would go to Bhaktapur and collect the letter. But, she did not show up and said she was busy.
The lawyers went on their own. “If all the procedures could have been wrapped up Thursday, there would not have been any trouble the next day,” says the source, “But only at 1 pm did she inform that she was elsewhere and would not be able to go to Bhaktapur.”
On Thursday, Shakuntala Biswas reached the Central Jail to meet Charles Sobhraj. But, she was not allowed to meet him citing his release. But, Nihita did not reach the jail. On Friday, when Sobhraj was leaving the jail, Nihita reached the immigration department. Sobhraj also reached there, but he expressed that he did not want to meet Nihita or Shakuntala.
Yet, Nihita said she would do whatever she has to do as per the law to get him safely to France. “The important thing now is the security arrangements.”
All hush-hush!
At the immigration department, Nihita Biswas did not want to talk openly about her relationship with Charles Sobhraj. She said, “I should not have said much about my life earlier. The media turned a molehill into a mountain.”
She avoided talking about her marriage with Shobraj in prison 12 years ago. “It is all a private matter,” she said. She did not even want to refer to herself as Sobhraj’s wife.
Media and people have always had an interest in her relationship with Sobhraj. But when asked, Nihita Biswas was visibly uncomfortable, “Interests cannot accomplish anything. It is only a matter of curiosity.”
When asked “Are you going to France?”, she avoided answering directly and said, “Cases of other clients including Charles should be treated equally. I have some responsibilities, and I will do everything that needs to be coordinated with the family and the embassy.”
Charles Sobhraj’s first wife Chantal Compagnon and daughter Usha are in Paris. It was a love marriage too. In 1969, he proposed to Compagnon at a party and later, on the same day, he was arrested for stealing a car. They got married eight months after that. They are already divorced. Daughter Usha works for the US government.
When he was in jail, Sobhraj kept in touch with his family members in Paris two to three times a week. But they are not in contact with Sobhraj today.
Some claim that he has property in France. However, it has not been confirmed.
Legal battles ahead
Charles Sobhraj said that he would now spend the rest of his life, fighting cases against misrepresentation and conspiracy. He spoke about the documentaries made on him too and said he would sue BBC, Netflix and others for making false documentaries about him and claim compensation. While in jail, he had even said, “I will earn money by fighting legal battles for the rest of my life.”
Sobhraj has plans to file a case against the Nepal government too. The bikini killer was arrested at Casino Royale of Kathmandu in 2003. The Bhaktapur District Court had sentenced him to life imprisonment for the murders of American citizen Connie Jo Bronzich and Canadian citizen Laurent Carrière, on December 21, 1975.
This story was translated from the original Nepali version and edited for clarity and length.
