The murder trial of Naresh Bhatt, a Manassas Park man accused of killing and dismembering his 28-year-old wife, pediatric nurse Mamta Kafle Bhatt, resumed Tuesday following a day of focused forensic testimony. A Prince William County crime scene investigator took the stand Monday to detail the examination of a power saw that prosecutors allege Bhatt used in the crime. Bhatt has remained in custody since his August 2024 arrest and faces charges of first-degree murder, concealing a dead body, and defiling a dead body.
The case unfolded after Mamta Kafle Bhatt failed to report for her shift at UVA Health Prince William Medical Center on August 1, 2024. When she missed two consecutive shifts, concerned co-workers requested a welfare check at the couple’s Heather Court home the following day. Responding officers spoke with Bhatt, who initially told them he did not believe his wife was missing and claimed he had last seen her on July 29. Friends and family immediately rejected the notion, insisting she would never abandon her infant daughter.
Bhatt formally contacted police to file a missing persons report on August 5, 2024. During initial interactions, authorities lacked immediate indications of foul play because Bhatt told an officer his wife had threatened to disappear and brought up the possibility of a divorce. Investigators officially classified her as involuntarily missing later that same day.
Following subsequent searches and evidence collection, police arrested Bhatt on August 22, 2024, after discovering extensive bloodstains inside the primary bedroom and bathroom of the home. Court documents show that investigators recovered the power saw, which contained hair fragments, and gathered digital and physical evidence indicating Bhatt visited multiple trash disposal sites. Despite extensive investigations, her body has not been recovered.
