The prime suspect in the rape and murder of 14-year-old Woodley Park schoolgirl Basmattie ‘Manda’ Moonsammy has been arrested.
Police yesterday said that the suspect was held, while also reporting that an autopsy on the girl’s body did not yield any conclusive finding on the cause of her death.
The decomposing body of Moonsammy, of Woodley Park Village, West Coast Berbice, was discovered in a rice field aback of the village on Saturday morning. She was clad in a black bra with the skirt and underwear pulled down to her knees. A string was also tied tightly around her neck.
A post mortem examination was yesterday conducted on the teen’s body by Pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Bridjmohan, but the cause of death was undetermined, according to police.
The girl, a student of the secondary department of the Woodley Park Primary School, left home on the afternoon of July 29 and was never heard from afterward. Her mother, Padmoutie ‘Padma’ Dyall, 44, a domestic worker had reported her missing to the Fort Wellington Police Station.
The body was found on Saturday last around 10:30am, partially buried in a rice field. The corpse was turned face down and only the mid-section was visible.
Police were contacted and after their arrival the mud was washed off the face of the corpse, but because of its decomposed state, it was difficult for Dyall to tell if those were the remains of her daughter. After they washed a bit more, she recognized the skirt the girl was wearing.
