LAW AND PSYCHOLOGY

Case Name: State of U.P. vs. Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj

Name of the Subject: Hatchand Bhaonani Gurumukh Charles Sobhraj
Age: 75 years (Current age)

OBJECT
The object of this research paper is to understand and study the behaviour of the subject, taking
into account all external factors contributing towards his unusual behaviour. The following
research first delves into the life and background of the subject, then using the study of
psychoanalysis to understand the analysand’s free associations in life using the unconscious
patterns of life.

FACTS OF THE CASE

Charles Sobhraj (born 6 April 1944), is a French thief, fraudster and serial
killer of Vietnamese and Indian origin who preyed on Western tourists, primarily beatniks,
throughout the Hippie Trail of Southeast Asia during the 1970s. He was best known as the
Bikini Killer due to the attire of his victims, as well as the Splitting Killer and the Serpent, due
to his skill at deception and evasion. Sobhraj allegedly committed at least a dozen murders and
was convicted and jailed in India from 1976 to 1997. After his release, he retired as a celebrity
in Paris. Sobhraj later returned to Nepal in 2003, where he was arrested, tried, and received
a life sentence.

ANALYSIS OF PERSONALITY
We will now analyse the behaviour of the subject using psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis of a
human, especially an alleged psychopath requires a thorough study of the subject’s childhood,
developmental factors, and external factors. Taking into account all these factors and their role
in the life of Charles Sobhraj we will dissect and understand what led to his unusual behaviour.
A) Early childhood and Family –
Charles Sobhraj was born as Hatchand Bhaonani Gurumukh Charles
Sobhraj to Vietnamese shop girl Tran Loang Phun, and Indian Sindhi businessman
Sobhraj Hatchand Bhaonani, who was based in Saigon.[5][6] His parents were divorced
and his father deserted the family. Stateless at first,[7] Sobhraj was adopted by his
mother's new boyfriend, a French Army lieutenant stationed in French Indochina.
There he was neglected in favour of the couple's later children. However, Sobhraj
continued to move back and forth between Indochina and France with the family. As a
teenager, he began to commit petty crimes.
 As is evident, the subject did not have a healthy childhood. The divorce of his parents
led him and the lack of attention towards his parenting thereof led to the forming of the
base of an unstable mind. After being adopted by a stranger and getting neglected in
lieu of his mother’s new born, Charles started committing petty crimes. The reason
behind this is two-fold and both are based on Maslow’s need of hierarchy.
The first reason being the need for physiological needs – Coming from a poor family,
the physiological needs of the subject often remained unfulfilled and to attain those
needs the subject started committing petty crimes to support himself.
The second reason being the need for love, affection and belongingness need-
Children that see their parents’ divorce at a young age often don’t understand the
concept due to lack of maturity and hence are not able to process it properly which leads
to them having unresolved issues. In the current case, not only did the subject have the
scars on his mind of his parents’ divorce but also had to suffer the pain of desertion
twice. First, when his biological father deserted him, and the second time when his
mother and adoptive father neglected him. The petty crimes were a cry for attention
that the subject had never received from his parents.

B) Development of a criminal characteristics –

Charles received his first jail sentence (for burglary) in 1963, serving time
at Poissy prison near Paris. While imprisoned, Sobhraj eagerly manipulated prison
officials into granting him special favours, such as being allowed to keep books in his
cell. Around the same time, he met and endeared himself to Felix d'Escogne, a wealthy
young man and prison volunteer.

When the subject first started committing petty crimes, the niche for his deceiving and
dangerous mind had been set. The fact that the subject was able to influence and deceive
the jail officials into keeping books in his cell is indicative of his manipulative nature
which later develops and helps him to become a con-man.
Subject’s attraction to wealthy people and his need to be in their good books is
suggestive of the fact that he wanted to be financially well-off and intended to do so by
deceiving and cheating others.

C) Marriage and criminal behaviour –

Sobhraj moved in with his father after being paroled, and entered the criminal world.
He began accumulating riches through burglaries and scams. Sobhraj, during this time,
met Chantal Compagnon and proposed to her, but got arrested the same day. After
serving a period of 8 months in the jail, he married Chantal and left France for Asia to
escape arrest. They robbed tourists whom they befriended along the way. Upon arriving
in Mumbai, Chantal gave birth to a baby girl named Usha. During this time, sobhraj’s
growing profits led to him developing a gambling addiction.
The next few years of his life were followed by arrest and escape from the clutches of
the police. Fed up of the criminal lifestyle, Chantal returned to France and vowed to
never see Sobhraj again. Once in Kabul, Sobhraj was joined by his younger brother
Andre in his crimes but that partnership too ended soon as they both got arrested and
Sobhraj managed to escape, while his brother did not and ended up serving an 18 year
sentence in jail.
 This phase of his life exudes a similar pattern of rejection and desertion in the subject’s
life as his early childhood. The subject is seen to be trying to build a family with a wife
and daughter and succeeds at doing so for a while but eventually is deserted by them.
Even after losing his wife, the subject is seen looking for companionship when he
moves to Kabul and partners with his brother but that relationship too comes to an end
and eventually the subject is left alone all over again.
Facing rejection and desertion again and again in his life, the subject’s need for love
and belongingness are never fulfilled.
Being arrested multiple times and having escaped the clutches of the police, the subject
when at large lacked the need for safety. According to Sigmund Freud, a lack in the
fulfilment of safety need as described by Maslow in his hierarchy of needs, causes
posttraumatic stress that can surface in various harmful and negative ways. The subject
in lieu of protecting himself from the police, keeps moving from place to place and
starts deceiving people, at this stage the subject enters his psychopathic stage in life and
starts committing gory murders.

D) Murders and the title of “Bikini Killer” –

The serpent strikes –

In Thailand now, Charles began gathering followers, like Marie Leclerc through his
charm. And she was devoted to him. With her help, he pulled off scams that involved
him helping people out of difficult situations which were actually conjured up by
Sobhraj himself.
The era of the Bikini Killer –
He was then joined by an Indian, Ajay Chowdhury, along with whom he committed his
first murder in 1975. The victim was Teresa Knowlton from Seattle. She was found
dead in a pool, wearing a bikini. Chowdhury stole some gems in Malaysia and gave
them to Charles. He was never seen after that nor was his body recovered. He came
back to India and made two more women part of his clan, Barbara & Mery Ellen.
Charles and his trio of women then tried tricking a few French tourists but were caught
in the act and they were arrested. Charles and the three women were arrested and sent
to Tihar Jail. Where Charles had sneaked in a few gems and bribed the guards for a
comfortable life inside.
Barbara and Mary Ellen however were having a terrible time & tried committing
suicide. Charles realised that post his 12-year sentence, there would still be 8 years left
on his Thailand warrant and to evade arrest, he made an escape plan. He threw a party
in his 10th year in prison and drugged the guards & his inmates. Charles Sobhraj simply
walked out of jail.
What earlier were petty crimes such as burglary and minor tourist scams, gradually
escalated to become murders and non-compoundable offences punishable with a life
sentence. The lack of responsibility and the factor of nothing-to-lose added to the
subject’s confidence. The fact that he had already escaped from the jail multiple times
before lead to him having little fear of any authority. After being so experienced in
committing crimes, the subject became aware of his strengths. The subject’s attractive
looks and charming personality attracted people. The subject used this to deceive
 people. Later, when he was joined by Ajay Chowdhury, his confidence was further
boosted as he again found a companion. This need of love and affection was satisfied
at an extremely late stage of his life, and by the time it was satisfied, his objectives in
life had changed completely. The subject’s partnership with Ajay Chowdhury led to
him to gain the confidence to commit his first murder.

OBSERVATION AND CONCLUSION

Webster’s dictionary describes a psychopath as someone who is mentally unstable person
especially: a person having an egocentric and antisocial personality marked by a lack of
remorse for one's actions, an absence of empathy for others, and often criminal tendencies.
Sobhraj, in most of the case studies has been wrongly described as a psychopath even though
he never exhibited any traits of being one. Though he had an ego-centric personality, he wasn’t
anti-social. The chain of murders started only once he partnered with Ajay Chowdhury.
This in turn brings into the questioning the very need for ensuring that children are not only
provided with basic amenities like shelter, food, education, healthcare, but also ensured an a
positive environment with love, compassion and support that helps smooth development of
their psyche and personality. Hence there is a greater need to understand that early stability and
positive mental health could directly lead to reduction in number of psychopathic
manifestations in the form of crimes and reduce the unleashing of serial killers.