{"id":48096,"date":"2024-03-20T13:08:08","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T12:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1029104"},"modified":"2024-03-20T16:04:58","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T15:04:58","slug":"who-is-charles-sobhraj-in-the-real-serpent-on-channel-4-and-where-is-he-now","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/who-is-charles-sobhraj-in-the-real-serpent-on-channel-4-and-where-is-he-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Charles Sobhraj in The Real Serpent on Channel 4 and where is he now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tahar Rahim previously played the titular French serial killer in the BBC series The Serpent. <\/p>

By Flora Carr\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 20 March 2024 at 12:08 PM<\/p>

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Charles Sobhraj, the notorious <\/span>French-Vietnamese serial killer known as \u201cThe Serpent\u201d is the topic of a new Channel 4 docuseries, which is available to watch now.<\/span><\/p>\n

Titled <\/span>The Real Serpent: Investigating a Serial Killer<\/span>, the documentary sees Sobhraj face interrogations by two former Met Police detectives about murders he was linked to but never tried for, with Sobhraj strongly denying that he murdered anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a<\/span> forensic psychologist conducts \u201chours of interviews with the serial killer to make an assessment about whether he is a psychopath and still presents a danger to the public\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new series comes three years after BBC drama The Serpent<\/a>, which explored Sobhraj\u2019s crimes and starred <\/span>Tahar Rahim (The Looming Tower) in the titular role.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, who is the real Charles Sobhraj, when was he captured and where is he now? Read on for everything you need to know.<\/p>\n

Who is Charles Sobhraj?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Born 1944, Charles Sobhraj is a French serial killer of Vietnamese and Indian origin; he\u2019s otherwise known as \u201cThe Serpent,\u201d or else \u201cThe Bikini Killer,\u201d so nicknamed due to the attire he dressed some of his victims in.<\/p>\n

He was the chief suspect\u00a0in at least a dozen murders of Western travellers that took place in South Asia in the 1970s, and was for a time Interpol\u2019s most wanted man before his capture in 1976.<\/p>\n

\"Charles\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Charles Sobhraj in December 2022.<\/span><\/figcaption> Atish Patel\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

As the BBC stated in its description for true crime drama The Serpent: \u201cPosing as a gem dealer, Sobhraj and his girlfriend Marie-Andr\u00e9e Leclerc travelled across Thailand, Nepal and India in 1975 and 1976, carrying out a spree of crimes on the Asian \u2018Hippie Trail\u2019 and becoming the chief suspects in a series of murders of young Western travellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sobhraj allegedly hated hippies (otherwise referred to as \u201clonghairs\u201d by characters in The Serpent). He was also a thief and fraudster, travelling with stolen passports, and often conned his victims prior to their murders.<\/p>\n

When was Charles Sobhraj captured and jailed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Charles Sobhraj was eventually captured in July 1976 in New Delhi, after an attempt to drug a group of French students went wrong, and he was overpowered by three of the students.<\/p>\n

He served his sentence in India from 1976 to 1997, before returning to France. However, during a trip to Nepal in 2003 he was arrested again, and given a life sentence for two murders committed in 1975.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n