Prison no bar to Charles Sobhraj's love antic

Engaged to 20-year-old Nepali interpreter Arrested during a visit to Nepal five years ago and sent to prison for life for the murder of an American backpacker during the hippie era, criminal mastermind Charles Sobhraj has finally found a silver lining in his ordeal — love.The 64-year-old has cast the ... of his old charm from behind bars on a Nepali belle and the two are now engaged.“I met her just two months ago and now we are in love, and I hope we will marry after I get released,” Sobhraj told PTI from Kathmandu’s Central Jail.It is a winter-spring romance with Sobhraj’s new love being a 20-year-old who has just completed school and was toying with the idea of pursuing a career in political journalism.Articulate, pretty and determined, Nihita Biswas is the result of a mixed marriage between a Bengali from Kolkata and a successful Nepali career woman, just like Sobhraj, the son of a Sindhi tailor and a Vietnamese mother.The two met three months ago in Kathmandu’s central jail, where Sobhraj is serving his prison sentence.His French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre was arriving in Kathmandu from Paris to inspect the status of their appeal against the life term and Sobhraj was looking for someone intelligent and reliable who could act as her guide and interpreter.“It sounded like a good job,” says Nihita, who was told about the assignment by someone who knew both Sobhraj and her. Unfortunately, when she arrived at the prison, the lawyer had already left. But when she introduced herself to Sobhraj, it was a case of love at first sight for both. Though he no longer needed an interpreter, Sobhraj did not want to lose sight of her and pretended he had an assignment for her.“He gave me a list of things he wanted me to buy for him,” Nihita laughs. “It was an enormous list.” That’s how the courtship started and after a month, Nihita was visiting him regularly, sharing lunch and his plans. Then she broke the news to her mother and took her to the prison to meet the man she loved. “I am a human rights activist,” Nihita’s mother said. “I think Sobhraj was sent to prison without any evidence to prove he had committed the murder...My daughter is an adult and free to decide whom to marry. If she is happy then I am happy too.Nihita and Sobhraj have exchanged rings and become engaged. He is confident that his appeal against the “guilty” verdict will be overturned by Nepal’s Supreme Court and he will be released this year.If that happens, the lovers are planning a Hindu ceremony in Kathmandu, to be followed by a civil and legal ceremony in Paris. Nihita says, “I don’t know what he was.know what he is now. He is a good and caring man and that’s what’s important.KATHMANDU: Security officials say they have no information on the reported engagement of the alleged serial killer Charles Sobhraj with 20-year-old girl Nihita Bis-was. “We have no idea about it,” chief of the Crime Branch of Metropolitan Police Hanumandhoka, Upendra Kanta Aryal, told this daily.Shankar Aryal, jailer of the Central Jail, said he knew nothing about the reported engagement. “We did not provide any space to Sobhraj to get engaged,” he added. “This is a rumour and I cannot confirm it,” he said.“People come to meet him frequently, but I don’t know if he has such a relationship with anyone,” jailer Aryal said.DSP of the Central Jail Yamuna Rajak said, “We did not provide any opportunity to Sobhraj to get engaged.” Efforts to contact Chief District Officer of Kathmandu Jaya Mukunda Khanal for comments failed.

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