I married Nihita to protect her reputation: Sobhraj

BABURAM KHAREL

KATHMANDU, Oct 13 - Charles Sobhraj, who gained notoriety in the 70s as the serpent and the bikini killer, said on Sunday that he "informally" wedded his 20-year-old fiancée Nihita Biswas on Thursday. "It was to show my respect for her love and protect her reputation," he ...

Sobhraj has been in Central Jail since 2003, serving a life sentence for the murder of an American backpacker, Connie Jo Bronzich, in 1975.

Shortly after meeting his 'newly-wed wife' Nihita at Central Jail on Sunday, Sobhraj claimed that he saw the marriage as "an ultimate truth to materialise my love for her.

"My duty is to marry her if both of us have really fallen in love. It was a decision to protect her reputation as there were massive gossips about our love affair," confessed Sobhraj, adding that the marriage would be registered at Kathmandu District Administration Office. He said he would also "formally remarry" her under French law in France.

If Sobhraj and Nihita's claims are anything to go by, they tied the nuptial knot on Thursday, the 10th day of Dashain, and exchanged vows to spend the rest of their lives together.

"We chose Bada Dashami for our marriage as it is regarded as an auspicious day for weddings," he claimed.

On that day, he and all other inmates were allowed to come out of their prison cells to receive tika.  According to Sobhraj, Nihita, her mother Sakuntala Thapa and her brother visited him during the day. Thapa, a lawyer, is also fighting Sobhraj's case at the Supreme Court, challenging a lower court verdict that found him guilty of murder.

Sobhraj's appeal in the Supreme Court will be heard on October 19.

Police, who are keeping Sobhraj under surveillance, say they have no idea when he got married to Nihita.

"They might have married in their dreams but no ceremony was held in the premises of Central Jail," said a police officer deputed to jail security. "As usual, we allowed all the inmates to receive tika from their elders on the occasion of Dashain.

Asked to explain the controversy surrounding the wedding, Sobhraj said: "It [marriage] is a private affair and everybody is allowed to enjoy their privacy. But the problem with them [media] is that I am Sobhraj," said 64-year-old Sobhraj. He said the Nepali media had been unnecessarily nosy about his private affairs.

The reported wedding follows his engagement in July. Nihita, a Nepali woman working as his interpreter, began to warm up to each other. Interestingly, police had earlier dismissed news of their engagement as rumour.

Sobhraj said he decided to marry Nihita as he found her intelligent, generous and understanding "beyond her young age.

Though the marriage is Sobhraj's second according to documents, he has reportedly had several girl friends. An official wedding record in France shows that he married a Frenchwoman who, according to him, divorced him during his imprisonment in India.

Nihita, who arrived at Central jail on Sunday afternoon on a Hero Honda, a lollipop in her mouth, wore black pote (beads worn by married Hindu women). She declined to comment when asked whether the wedding had taken place on Thursday, saying that she was afraid of the Nepali media.

"I do not know [about the wedding]. I love him so much. Do [write] whatever you like. You have enough news reports on the issue already," she said. "I am afraid of the media.

After meeting Sobhraj for 20 minutes in the prison, she returned to her motorbike. She was accompanied by two unidentified youths.

Meanwhile, Nihita has changed her name to Nihita Sobhraj-Biswas and started calling herself Sobhraj's wife. For the first time, Nihita identified herself in the visitors' log book at the prison as Sobhraj's wife. Earlier, she used to register herself as his friend.

Her mother said that Nihita was moody but declined to comment on the supposed wedding.

Sobhraj was arrested in Kathmandu when he came to Nepal in 2003 after a gap of about 28 years.