MANASSAS, Va. (Court TV) — A man vehemently denied hurting or killing his wife but admitted he dismembered her body afterward to hide it.
Naresh Bhatt testifies on Nov. 5, 2026. (Court TV)
Naresh Bhatt, 39, returned to the witness stand on Thursday as he stands trial on charges of murder and defiling a body in the death of his wife, Mamta Kafle, 28. Prosecutors have theorized that Kafle was killed on July 30, 2024, but said she wasn’t reported missing for several days, after her co-workers grew concerned.
Bhatt began testifying Wednesday, telling the jury about his life growing up in India and Nepal before coming to the United States and joining the Army. On Thursday, Bhatt’s story turned to the day Kafle is believed to have died.
Bhatt said that in the days before Kafle’s death, they had been arguing and alternately threatening each other with divorce and suicide. When Bhatt went to bed on July 29, 2024, he said, Kafle remained downstairs in the kitchen. When he woke up in the early hours of July 30, 2024, Bhatt said he found Kafle on the floor of their bedroom in a puddle of vomit. “There was pills, blood, capsule and food particles,” Bhatt said of the vomit.
Bhatt seemed to suggest that Kafle used a pesticide to kill herself, saying that after finding his wife he noticed that a package of Celphos had been opened. Celphos, a strong pesticide, works by blocking insects’ ability to breathe.
Bhatt said that he spent 45 minutes to an hour attempting to revive his wife, doing CPR, rescue breathing and trying to pour water into her mouth. Bhatt’s attorney asked him why he never called 911. “I was really at that point scared,” he said. “I don’t know why I did not try to call. I was really scared. I don’t know why. Something take over me. I was really, really panicked. I don’t know. I don’t, really. It’s been like, over two years; I have completed more than 3,500 hours of meditation. Still, I don’t have that answer.”
When Kafle wasn’t responsive to Bhatt’s attempts to revive her, he dragged her body into the bathroom and continued trying to give her water before eventually giving up and taking the couple’s then-infant daughter to the babysitter. Bhatt said that after dropping the baby off, his plan was to come home and “then finish myself as well,” telling the jury that he debated hanging himself. He then changed course and decided to go to Home Depot “to find anything to hide a body,” he said.
Bhatt testified that his initial plan was to find a way to throw Kafle’s body into the Potomac River, but he found nothing at Walmart or Home Depot to help his plan. He said that he returned home and again attempted CPR on his wife, to no avail. He then tested whether she would fit in the trash can and found she wouldn’t, he said.
At that point, Bhatt said, he decided to cut his wife into pieces so that she would fit into the trash can. He first tried to separate her legs from her body, but wasn’t able to. “Mentally and physically I was powerless,” he testified. “I was unable to do that.”
That night, Bhatt said, he couldn’t sleep. He said he was scared of everything, “including ghosts.”
The next day, July 31, after taking his daughter back to a babysitter, he used a saw and knives to dismember Kafle until she fit into multiple trash bags, which he placed in the trash bin for pickup. Bhatt acknowledged his behavior on the surveillance video, noting that he left one of the knives he used outside the dumpster in case a neighbor wanted it.
Prosecutors have said that Bhatt did more than dispose of his wife’s body: They say he killed her, though because they have never recovered her remains, they have not been able to suggest how she was killed. When asked about comments Kafle had made to friends accusing the defendant of abuse, Bhatt denied ever doing so. “That is shocking, unbelievable for me,” he said. “I don’t know how that comes from people, but I don’t believe she said that.”
