DEPUTY Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud Tuesday said that based on investigations by sleuths in Berbice, one of two suspects who were released on bail was re-arrested, and is assisting with investigations following the rape/murder of  West Coast Berbice teenager Basmattie Moonsammy, called “Mando”, 15, of Woodley Park, West Coast Berbice. No one has, so far, been charged for the crime but the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, has advised that further investigations be carried out after she reviewed the file.
Persaud said investigations are very active and the police are hoping to lay charges soon.
Moonsammy’s decomposing body was discovered by a rice farmer partly buried in a shallow grave in the rice fields at #11Village, WCB on August 4. The
Teen had reportedly left her home for an unknown destination while her single-parent mother of three was away at work on July 28.
A missing person’s report was filed with the police, and searches were conducted for the teen; but it was not until the rice farmer had noticed the bloated and decomposing body and had raised an alarm, at about 10:00 hours, that the teen’s fate was known.
The teen is believed to have been either lured or forcibly taken to the rice field area, where she is suspected to have been gang-raped and murdered by a group of men from the village.
Police apprehended the first suspect a day after the body was found, while the other was picked up two days after.
Pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Bridgejmohan’s post-mortem performed on the teen’s body has not been able to determine the cause of her death.