A grand jury indicted the husband of a Northern Virginia mother missing since July on a first-degree murder charge on Monday as police said forensic evidence shows she was killed and dismembered inside the couple’s home.
Previously, Naresh Bhatt was only charged with concealing Mamta Kafle Bhatt's body. He also faces a felony count of physically defiling a dead body.
“I just know that whatever happened in the house, it was murder,” said Chief Mario Lugo with the Manassas Park Police Department.
Months after Naresh Bhatt was taken away from his home in handcuffs, Manassas Park police said they have enough evidence to charge him with the murder of his wife.
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“From the beginning, we believed she was murdered in the case based on the crime scene,” Lugo said. “This just helps the case, kind of, certifies what we thought occurred.”
Lugo spoke after prosecutors presented new evidence to the grand jury.
The 28-year-old wife and mother was last seen July 29. Not long after, detectives say surveillance cameras captured her husband Naresh Bhatt throwing away large trash bags around Northern Virginia, like in the parking lot of his babysitter’s apartment and a trash compactor in Falls Church.
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Investigators say they also have video of him buying rubber gloves, knives, large storage bags and cleaning supplies.
Back in August, Naresh Bhatt was charged with concealing his wife’s body, but after getting a positive match on DNA, police say they can prove Mamta Kafle Bhatt was murdered and dismembered by her husband inside their home.
“The forensic unit of Prince William County said it was one of the worst crime scenes they’ve seen,” Lugo said. “Today we presented the case to the grand jury. The grand jury returned an indictment of first-degree murder and defiling a body.”
Police say they searched for a body at 20 locations across Northern Virginia with no luck.
Just after 3 p.m. on Aug. 2, two police officers from Manassas Park went to the Bhatts' home after receiving a call from her employer after she failed to show up to work.
On body-worn camera footage, Bhatt told officers his wife left home, destroyed her phone and indicated she was heading to either New York or Texas. He told officers the couple had plans to split.
He was cordial with officers and told them his wife had been living elsewhere.
At a court hearing in September, prosecutors told a judge there’s evidence Naresh Bhatt was seen placing garbage bags in dumpsters. They said police found a bloody bathmat in a bag of items donated to charity.
Bhatt was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, but the proceedings were postponed because an interpreter wasn't available.
Mamta Kafle Bhatt’s disappearance sparked a major search and community outcry as the mother missed her daughter’s first birthday.
“Their goal has been two things: justice for Mamta and securing a future for her baby,” said Holly Wirth, a spokesperson for Mamta Kafle Bhatt’s family.
While Naresh Bhatt waits to learn his fate, Mamta Kafle Bhatt’s family asks for privacy as they grieve.
“This is not a celebration. We’re not here happy. There’s a sense of relief but please give them the time to process their emotions,” Wirth said. “While this is a step forward in the case, there’s no amount of jail time that's going to bring back what they really want, which is their daughter.”
