Amsterdam The Public Prosecution Service has again demanded 15 years in prison against Manodj B. for killing the pregnant student Sumanta Bansi (22) in Hoorn in 2018.
The fact that he made a confession last year and told where the body was did not result in a ‘penalty discount’.
Did Sumanta’s ex plan to kill his girlfriend and was B. helped by his family? The Public Prosecution Service is convinced of a double ‘yes’, but had to admit in Amsterdam on Monday that the strong suspicion cannot be substantiated with irrefutable evidence. So no premeditation, no charge for murder.
Did he already explore the place?
Where then is the conviction? An analysis by the criminal investigation department of Manodj B.’s travel movements has shown that in the weeks before the fatal evening on the night of 18 to 19 February 2018, he was several times at the place where he buried the body that night. In fact, he was there for almost 45 minutes the night before. Did he explore the place at that time? The court asked him to do so, but B said that he wanted to relax there for a while and that he came often. But the analysis showed that he never got there in the years before.
The OM and the court also question B.’s statement about the fatal night. According to B. and his lawyer Theo Hiddema, there was an emergency. Sumanta would suddenly have drawn a knife, after which he was forced to stab her to death. Hiddema therefore asked for the dismissal of all legal proceedings.
The Public Prosecution Service pointed out to B. how sad it was that he only told after the conviction where he had buried the body. B. said in his last word that he regretted it.
Judgment will follow in September.