Chantal Compagnon was born in 1945 (age 76 years; as of 2021) in Paris. She belongs to a conservative Catholic family.

Chantal & Charles

In 1969, she went to a party, where she met Charles who introduced himself as a wealthy man from Saigon and told her of his adventures in the Orient and Dakar. When he began dating Chantal, he was in a relationship with Chantal Desnoyers. Charles later broke up with Chantal Desnoyers to be with Compagnon. After a brief period of dating, Chantal was proposed to by Charles, and the same day he was arrested on charges of car theft. Initially, Chantal’s parents disapproved of Charles. Later, her parents accepted their relationship after Charles displayed his wealth that he had racked up by carrying out a series of scams. Upon Charles’ release from prison eight months later, they both got married.

In 1970, the couple fled France for Asia using fake documents, fearing Sobhraj’s arrest by the French authorities; Chantal was pregnant at that time. Along the way, Chantal accompanied Charles in looting tourists. In 1970, the couple reached Mumbai, India, where they decided to start a new chapter by leaving criminal activities. Chantal Compagnon and Charles became parents to a girl named Usha Sobhraj, who was later sent to live with Chantal’s parents. Charles, who was long lost in the realm of crime, associated himself with car theft and smuggling enterprises. In 1971, the couple fled to Kabul with their daughter at Chantal’s parental home in Paris. In Kabul, Charles got acquainted with weapon smugglers. Chantal, blinded by her love for Charles, fled from place to place with Charles, accompanying him in robbing the travelers on the hippie trail between Europe and Eastern Asia. In 1973, after Charles conducted an unsuccessful armed robbery at a jewelry store at Hotel Ashoka, Delhi, he was arrested and imprisoned at Tihar Prison in Delhi. After a fortnight, Charles faked appendicitis and was moved to a hospital, and Chantal drugged the guards, helping him escape. The couple then moved to Kabul, where he conducted other robberies and was arrested by the Afgan police and imprisoned. Charles somehow fled the prison and went to France, where he kidnapped his daughter (Usha) and returned to Afgan to free Chantal. However, he was captured while trying to do so. After the couple was bailed out by Charles’ father, Charles left for Iran, leaving Chantal and his daughter in Kabul. This left a huge impact on Chantal, who returned to France and vowed to never see Charles again.