Sobhraj’s wife,mom-in-law furnish reply on contempt charges

22-year-old Nihita Bishwas and her mother Shakuntala Thapa,who is also Sobhraj's lawyer,were summoned by the court on charges of using 'abusive' language.

The wife and mother-in-law of Indian-origin ‘bikini killer’ Charles Sobhraj furnished their explanation on contempt charges before the Supreme Court following their outburst against the verdict upholding life term of the criminal and were ordered to reappear on Sunday.

22-year-old Nihita Bishwas and her mother Shakuntala Thapa,who is also Sobhraj’s lawyer,were summoned by the court on charges of using ‘abusive’ language against the judges who delivered the verdict upholding life imprisonment of Sobhraj for the murder of an American backpacker here in 1975.

The mother-daughter duo appeared before a division bench of justices Balaram KC and Ram Kumar Prasad Shah for the third consecutive day today to respond to the contempt of court charges.

After the bench recorded the explanation furnished by them,the court handed them over to the Supreme Court Bar Association on the condition that they would be present for the next hearing on Sunday,a senior official at the apex court said.

The contents of the explanation given by them were not known.

Both Nihita and Shakuntala had accused the judges,who had delivered the verdict against 66-year-old Sobhraj on July 30,of accepting bribes.

On Thursday,they were sent for interrogation to police custody by the apex court,which freed them yesterday.