MANASSAS, Va. (Court TV) — A former soldier took the witness stand on Wednesday, testifying that he never hurt his missing wife but admitting that he may have missed signs of her mental health struggles before her disappearance.
Naresh Bhatt, 39, is charged with murder and defiling a body in the presumed death of his wife, Mamta Kafle, 28. Prosecutors have said they believe Kafle was likely killed on July 30, 2024, but she wasn’t reported missing until her coworkers became concerned several days later.
Naresh Bhatt testifies on Nov. 4, 2026. (Court TV)
On Wednesday, Bhatt described a difficult childhood growing up in India and Nepal before moving to the United States, where he learned English largely by answering spam phone calls. “I received every single call, and then I keep talking to them,” he said.
After arriving in the United States, Bhatt enlisted in the U.S. Army, which earned him citizenship. After basic training, he went into the reserves. He testified that he met Kafle online in late 2019 or early 2020; at the time, Bhatt said he was engaged to marry someone else. When that engagement ended, Bhatt pursued a relationship with Kafle. He said they began planning their wedding within a week or two of first speaking.
After they were married and Kafle moved to the United States, Bhatt said that he continued to do most of the housework. He testified that he cleaned the house — except the kitchen — then did the laundry and handled all the insurance and paperwork for the home. “What were her roles in the house?” Bhatt’s attorney, Tracey Lennox, asked.
“To control me,” Bhatt answered; he later added that Kafle handled all the cooking.
A photo of Mamta Kafle and Naresh Bhatt was shown in court. (Court TV)
Bhatt said things changed after Kafle gave birth to the couple’s daughter in August 2023. He said that Kafle didn’t enjoy the same things she used to; she stopped laughing at jokes that used to be funny and started getting upset at him for small things, like turning on lights too early or coughing too loudly. While he acknowledged the arguments and rising tensions in the relationship, Bhatt vehemently denied ever touching his wife in anger. “We don’t have that type of even family tradition … I have never seen anybody doing physical,” Bhatt said. “I’m not that type of person.”
Looking back, Bhatt said, he believes that Kafle was struggling with her mental health in the months before she disappeared. “I did not pay deep attention to what’s going on,” he said. “Hindsight is 20/20. I can see those moments I should change, or something like that.”
Prosecutors rested their case Monday after presenting 13 days of evidence that included surveillance video of Bhatt purchasing gloves, air freshener and cleaning supplies in the days after Kafle was last seen alive. Though Kafle’s body has never been found, prosecutors pointed to her DNA on the inside of a reciprocating saw, which the defendant gave to a landscaper after her disappearance, as a likely tool for disposing of her body.
