A Virginia husband who told news reporters he was “suffering” following the disappearance of his wife, has been accused of dragging her body out of their home before concealing her corpse.
Naresh Bhatt, 37, last saw his wife Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, on July 31, but he only reported her missing after police began investigating her vanishing on Aug. 5.
He was arrested on Thursday following a nearly months-long investigation where they charged him with Prohibition Against Concealment of a Dead Body, a felony in Virginia.
“On or about July 30, 2024 the accused Naresh Bhatt murdered his wife, Mamta Bhatt. The incident occurred at their residence in the city of Manassas Park,” a police incident report obtained by WJLA read.
“During the course of this investigation, a substantial amount of digital and forensic evidence consistent with her death was recovered.”
The police report also included evidence that indicated Mamta’s body was inside the residence before being “dragged” out of the house.
The couple had been together for more than 3 years and shared a 1-year-old daughter.
The Manassas Park Police Department conducted a welfare check at the couple’s Heather Court home, approximately 32 miles southwest of Washington DC, on Aug. 2.
During the welfare check, Naresh “provided additional information” but did not want to report his wife as missing, the police department said.
He allegedly told police his wife went to visit relatives in New York or Texas and had destroyed her phone before leaving.
Authorities discovered Mamta did not have relatives in either state and her phone was still receiving data between July 29 and Aug. 1 when it died, prosecutors claimed in court on Friday, according to WJLA.
He eventually reported Mamta missing on Aug. 5.
Start and end your day informed with our newsletters
Morning Report and Evening Update: Your source for today’s top stories
Thanks for signing up!
Officials claim Naresh failed to work with authorities during the investigation while waiting to formally file the missing person’s report, the outlet reported.
Between Aug. 5 and Aug. 8, investigators discovered Mamta Bhatt had a significant lack of contact with her husband, friends, family, work and social media postings.
Naresh emotionally reflected on the “terrible” experience of his wife’s disappearance when he spoke with several news outlets between the time he reported Mamta missing and his arrest.
“It’s been a very terrible time, my baby and myself we are just waiting minute and second just waiting, I don’t know how to explain,” Bhatt told WUSA9.
Naresh claimed that his wife had gone missing three times before, but he never called the cops.
He said he was the one most affected by his wife’s disappearance before pleading for her to come home.
“I’m the suffering one, I’m the suffer – my baby and then myself, you know, like, we are suffering the most,” he said.
“If she is watching, come back, whatever is the issue, you know like we can fix it,” Bhatt told the outlet.
Detectives executed a search warrant at his home where they reportedly found blood splatter in the master bedroom leading to the bathroom’s bathtub but have not tested it’s DNA yet, according to WJLA.
Investigators also discovered that Naresh had purchased knives from a Walmart in Chantilly on July 30, the day he allegedly murdered his wife.
He also was seen at a Loudoun County Walmart buying Lysol and Febreze on July 31 — which authorities suspect may have been used to clean up a crime scene, Prince William County prosecutor Sarah Sami said in court on Friday according to the outlet.
Investigators believe Naresh was getting ready to flee Virginia, as they found a packed suitcase and clothes missing off hangars while his “passport was available upon entry.”
He had also recently sold his Tesla and was trying to sell his home, two witnesses told police.
Naresh is being held without bond and is scheduled for a bond hearing on Monday.
Mamta’s parents, who live in Nepal, were granted an emergency visa to the US to get their grandaughter who has been in the care of social services since her father’s arrest.
