Naresh Bhatt Says Wife Died by Suicide, Admits Cutting Her Body

Naresh Bhatt testified in a Virginia court that he cut up his wife Mamta Kafle Bhatt’s body after finding her dead, but denied murdering her. He said she had taken pills and a highly poisonous insecticide, and that he tried to revive her before concealing her body.

Editorial·November 6, 2026·reads: 1,333

Naresh Bhatt Says Wife Died by Suicide, Admits Cutting Her Body

Bhatt faces charges of first-degree murder, defiling a body and concealing a body in connection with Mamta’s 2024 disappearance and presumed murder. He pleaded not guilty. Mamta, 28, was last seen on a video call on July 29, 2024; her body has not been found, more than two years later, according to the report. Prosecutors’ case includes bloodstains found in the couple’s bedroom and bathroom and a power saw with hair fragments, police said. Bhatt was arrested on August 22, 2024.

Testifying about the night Mamta disappeared, Bhatt said he went to bed around 8 p.m. with the couple’s infant daughter and did not hear his wife come upstairs. He said he woke around 4 a.m. and found her at the foot of the bed, surrounded by vomit containing pills, with a packet of Celphos insecticide beside her. Bhatt said he attempted resuscitation for about an hour. Asked why he did not call 911, he told the court: “I don’t know why I did not. I tried to call. I was really scared...something took over me. I was really, really panicked.”

Bhatt said he carried Mamta to the bathroom and decided to hide her body and then kill himself. He testified that he considered putting her body in the Potomac River, then went to Home Depot “to find anything to hide a body.” He said he obtained wire cable but did not hang himself.

He told the court he planned to put Mamta’s body in the trash, but it would not fit, so he used a saw in the bathroom to try to separate her legs from her body. He said he could not complete the dismemberment, describing himself as “mentally and physically” powerless. He also admitted putting her body in multiple trash bags and throwing them in the trash.

Mamta was reported missing on August 5, 2024, after she did not show up for work. Bhatt initially told police he did not believe she was missing, then filed a missing-person report. First-degree murder carries a possible life sentence; the charges of concealing and defiling a body each carry a maximum sentence of five years. The report said Bhatt’s admissions could help him avoid a death sentence.