The Guyana Police Force is seeking advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on a way forward in the murder of 14-year-old Woodley Park schoolgirl Basmattie ‘Manda’ Moonsammy for which two individuals have been taken into custody.
Police spokesperson, Ivelaw Whittaker, told Stabroek News yesterday that the initial person who was arrested and questioned in relation to the murder has since been released on bail while two other persons have been held.
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 and her skirt and underwear were pulled down to her knees. A string was also tied tightly around her neck.
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 August 4 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 her mother to tell if those were the remains of her daughter. After they washed a bit more, she recognized the skirt the girl was wearing.
