The Supreme Court of Nepal has ordered the release of French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, also known as the "bikini killer" or "snake killer.

He was released because of his age. He had been in a Nepalese prison since 2003 on charges of murdering two American tourists. The court also ordered his deportation to France within 15 days of his release.

Police arrested Sobhraj in September 2003 at a five-star hotel. He escaped from prison in New Delhi in 1996 after he was to be extradited to Thailand, where he would be charged with murdering six bikini-clad women on a beach in Pattaya.

Sobhraj was later re-arrested in Goa. He is known to have lived peacefully in France after his release from prison in India. Sobhraj claimed in his petition that he had already served 19 years in prison. He is now 78 years old.

The Kathmandu and Bhaktapur district courts found him guilty of killing American and Canadian citizens in 1975. He was also found guilty of the murders of American citizen Connie Jo Bronzic in Kathmandu, and Canadian citizen Laurent Carrier.