Law & Justice

Bhatt Claims Wife Died by Suicide, Body Disposed in Trash Cans

By Aastha Jha

Indian‑origin Naresh Bhatt, who is on trial in Virginia for the alleged murder of his wife Mamta Kafle, testified on Thursday that she died by suicide and that he later dismembered and disposed of her body in household trash cans. Bhatt, whose wife vanished in July 2024 and whose body has never been recovered, gave the statements during his second day of testimony in a Manassas Park court. He said he found Kafle unresponsive on the bedroom floor around 4 a.m. on July 30, 2024, after waking to attend to their infant daughter. He claimed she had vomited on her body and the floor, with pills and a medication bottle nearby, and that open pesticide containers were present and appeared to have been mixed with the vomit. Bhatt said he tried to revive her for about 45 minutes to an hour before moving her to the bathroom and attempting to give her water. When his defence lawyer asked why he had not called emergency services, Bhatt said he was scared and panicked. He admitted cutting up his wife’s body and disposing of it in trash cans at their home over the next day and a half. Bhatt said he contacted the couple’s babysitter and took their daughter to her home, then went to Home Depot to buy gloves and items to conceal the body. He told the court that after returning home he put the body in the trash can, reducing its size with a saw and a bag. He also acknowledged using knives, saying only a little. Prosecutors challenge his account, noting it differs from what he told police and the media after Kafle’s disappearance, when he claimed she had left the home and might be in New York or Texas. During cross‑examination, prosecutor Matthew Sweet confronted Bhatt about the change, calling him a liar; Bhatt answered “Yes” when asked if he had lied. The prosecution presented surveillance footage showing Bhatt wearing gloves and dumping multiple bags into different trash dumpsters, and forensic evidence linking blood found on the bedroom carpet and on an electric saw to Kafle. Bhatt is charged with first‑degree murder, defiling a dead body and concealing a dead body. He has pleaded not guilty and maintains his innocence. The case also includes testimony from Kafle’s brother, who said his sister had shown him a photograph that appeared to show a black eye and that she had told him Bhatt was responsible for the injury. A friend of the couple testified that Bhatt had given her Kafle’s jewellery and his wedding ring a few weeks after Kafle went missing and had discussed the possibility of divorcing his wife months before her disappearance.