1969
1972
Allegedly commits first murder: a taxi driver in Pakistan. Jailed in Afghanistan for robbery but escapes by faking illness then drugging guards. Jailed in Iran and serves 12-month sentence.
1973
1975
Jailed in Athens, Greece for robbery but escapes by setting fire to a prison van. Allegedly murders at least six people in Thailand, and two in Nepal.
1976
1977
1986
1997
2004
2014 Source: The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj by Richard Neville and Julie Clarke, Reuters
On the morning of March 11, 1976, Gires had some bad news for Knippenberg: Sobhraj and his girlfriend Marie-Andrée Leclerc, a Québécoise also known as Monique, were planning to go to Europe for some time.
Thailand
Netherlands
Nepal
India
Kathmandu
Bagmati
Malaysia
Pattaya
Chon-buri
Australia
Afghanistan
United-states
Yet, violations are an everyday routine. They get highlighted when there is a mishap with a high-profile person, like a Rajan Pillai whose death in Tihar Prison due to lack of medical care led to the high court awarding compensation; or if a public-spirited individual like Sheela Barse files a PIL; or because of a judge who, as in the recent case of “Re Inhuman Conditions in 1382 Prisons”, sees the need for systemic change. Notorious criminals, too, like Charles Sobhraj and Sunil Batra, who had the gumption to take matters to the Supreme Court, have played their part in prison reforms over the years.
India
Tihar
Uttar-pradesh
Bombay
Maharashtra
Sheela-barse
Gautam-navlakha
Rajan-pillai
Charles-sobhraj
Sunil-batra
Stan-swamy
Supreme-court