Suspect confesses to killing pregnant Amsterdam student, but claims self-defense

The 43-year-old man who was convicted last year of killing Sumanta Bansi in 2018 now claims he did so in self-defense. Manodj B. was sentenced by the court in Alkmaar to 15 years in prison.

His side of events was told to the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam on Monday. B. said he got into a fight with Bansi, and she then grabbed a knife. The quarrel started in her bedroom about whether Bansi had stolen money. B. claims he took the knife from her, stabbed her to death “in a reflex,” and buried her that same evening.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) briefly mentioned on Monday that there are findings in the investigation that contradict B.’s new claim.

In February 2018, 22-year-old Bansi disappeared from her hometown of Hoorn. At the time, the University of Amsterdam student lived with B.’s family. She was pregnant with B.’s child at the time of the disappearance.

He maintained his innocence throughout the trial. The judges convicted him in July of killing the young woman and disposing of her body, which investigators had searched for in vain several times. There were “extremely incriminating” statements that B. made that were recorded without his knowledge. In it, he said that he killed Bansi “just, so through the heart.”

A few months after his conviction, B. admitted during a police interrogation that he was responsible for her death and pointed out where Bansi’s body could be found. This turned out to be on a business park in Hoorn. In addition to the woman’s human remains, clothing and jewelry were also found.

The woman’s relatives said through their lawyer that, although B.’s statement was a “missing piece of the puzzle,” it was very confronting to hear.

The court decided on Monday that B. will be admitted to the Pieter Baan Center (PBC) for a full psychoanalysis. There will also be a further investigation into the cause of Bansi’s death.

The next hearing in the case is on April 5. It is not yet known when the case will be dealt with substantively.