Pastmaster: A devastating quest.

 

The Vedas say that the sinner is more intelligent than the righteous and possesses more acumen. Many scriptures go to the extent of calling thievery an ‘art’ which requires presence of mind, acclimatization to a peripatetic life and constant thinking of ways of escape. Diving into criminology and criminal psychology, what motivates a criminal to commit a crime? is the most important part of analysis. Come to think of it, any crime is like a business where risks are rewarded, but the fundamental difference is that business persons risk themselves to reward themselves, whereas the criminals risk others for the same objective.

 

One such devastating crime story is that of Charles Sobhraj. Born Hotchand Bhawnani Gurumukh, Charles is an Indo-French-Vietnamese serial killer who destroyed many lives and many homes, including his own. While some criminals have a clear motive of avenging their loved ones and there are so many films on the subject, Charles risked the lives of many and devastated many hearts on a singular quest: the quest for money, which is again not uncommon among people who have the Machiavellian notion that the ends justify the means.  It all began when Charles was abandoned by his father, and his mother preferred his siblings more than him.

 

This led him to seek her attention more than ever and while he could have gone down the righteous path of loving his family and doing things for them, he chose to abandon everyone instead and embark upon a journey of gruesome, spine-chilling murders. It is suspected that he murdered more than 12 people. As crimes committed for money are likened to business, there are big risks to be taken: authorities have to be escaped/bribed, the people around have to remain loyal and constant mental and physical surveillance needs to be done. Right from bribing the Thai police to duping people, Charles managed it all.

 

Charles stopped at nothing for money and lived in diverse conditions: from luxury hotels in Paris, to taverns in Pakistan, Charles and his French-Canadian lover Marie Andree Le Clerc,  who was originally from Quebec fell into his honey-trap and did a variety of wrongs for the sake of Charles’ love. But, as the saying goes, ‘crime never pays,’ when Charles drugged and killed a Dutch hippie couple because they did not consent to be his gem dealers and did not buy gems from him, it sparked intrigue in the Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg. He risked everything to bring justice to the nationals of his country.

 

Every criminal leaves behind traces, a narcissist like Charles, even more so. The ruthlessness with which he committed murders shocked the core of Marie Andree and she documented her experiences in his diary which by serendipity found itself in Herman Knippenberg’s hands. This marked the beginning of tracking every move Charles made, the murders he committed, the money he gambled away and the number of marriages he secretly had with an array of women who fell into his honey-trap and some even gave him a part of their fortunes and wealth. Charles’ deeds bordered on psychopathy because he actually enjoyed what he did, his unpredictability, his cruelty, his narcissism all landed him in trouble but his inflated sense of self was not ready to accept it.

 

One can only wonder what kind of love  Marie Andree had for him that she chose to accompany him in his crimes and chose to be at the whims and fancies of a wrongdoer of Charles’ stature. It was Herman Knippenberg’s constant effort at the risk of his family, his very important position as a Government Official, the office of which threatened him that he would lose his job if he were to try to investigate further about Charles, he kept doing what mattered most: to find him and prevent further crimes from happening.

 

In the process, Herman Knippenberg got separated from his wife who often helped him in decoding Charles’ whereabouts and even reading Marie Andree’s diary written entirely in the French which Herman was not acquainted with. A mammoth part of Charles’s story is essentially the story of Knippenberg’s determination. French actor Tahar Rahim, while filming ‘The Serpent’ (streaming on ‘Netflix’) based on the life and crimes of Charles Sobhraj wanted to meet the criminal, but he charged for meeting him because of which the actor abandoned the idea.

 

Charles and Marie Andree met their respective ends very differently. They were both in prison for a long time, and the latter was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was allowed to return to Quebec where she died at the age of 38. Charles is in prison and still alive and many surgeries have been performed on his person. He is a 77 year old married man today and has a 50-year-old daughter. Charles is the quintessence of the belief that karma exists and all wrongdoers are punished sooner or later.

 

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Author: Ms. Radhika Sunil Vaidya. 

E-mail i.d:   radhika.vaidya98@gmail.com

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