Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 24:

Six months have passed since the Kathmandu District Court (KDC) handed over a verdict of life imprisonment and confiscation of property of serial killer Charles Gurumukh Sobhraj but the KDC is confused about how his property can be confiscated.

Sobhraj is serving life sentence in Central Jail as per the KDC verdict issued on August 12. The KDC convicted him of killing American national Connie Jo Bronzich and Canadian national Laurent Ormand Carriere, in Nepal, in 1975.

“The KDC issued a verdict to confiscate Sobhraj’s property but there is no legal provision which paves way for implementation of the verdict because he (Sobhraj) is a French national and has no property in Nepal,” KDC registrar Balabhadra Banstola said.

It is difficult to seize any foreigner’s property even though one is convicted in Nepal. “Court notices can not be served in his native country to get details of his property,” Banstola said adding, “We have no jurisdiction to go there to get the details.”

But, he said, Sobhraj’s property in Nepal, if he has any, would be confiscated following the final verdict from the Supreme Court.