Brother Testifies Mamta Bhatt Said "I Am Not Safe" Before Disappearance
Prosecutors rested their murder case against Naresh Bhatt in Manassas, Va., with testimony from his wife's brother and a close friend. Bhatt's body has never been found.
"I Am Not Safe": Brother's Testimony Closes Prosecution's Case Against Naresh Bhatt
Months before she vanished, Mamta Kafle Bhatt told her brother during a phone call that she was in danger. "I am not safe," she said — words that Courthouse News Service reports became the final note of a four-week prosecution case against her husband, Naresh Bhatt, 39, on trial for murder in Manassas, Virginia.
Mamta Bhatt's brother, Mahesh Kafle, took the stand as the prosecution's last witness. Speaking through an interpreter, Kafle, who is from Nepal, recounted that his sister described being mistreated by her husband and asked him to save a photo showing her face with bruises. He had opposed the marriage from the start. "I told her not to get married to this man," Kafle testified.
Prosecutors have spent four weeks attempting to convince 12 jurors and five alternates that Naresh Bhatt murdered his 28-year-old wife, dismembered her body, and disposed of it in area trash dumpsters. Bhatt, a resident of Manassas Park, has pleaded not guilty. His defense team argues the prosecution's case is fundamentally undermined by one fact: Mamta Bhatt's body has never been found.
Prosecutors counter that the young woman did not simply walk away from her home and leave behind an infant daughter.
Friend Handed Over All the Jewelry
The prosecution also called Mandira Shrestha, described as a longtime friend of Naresh Bhatt. Shrestha testified that after Mamta Bhatt disappeared, Bhatt contacted her and asked her to retrieve a piece of jewelry she had previously given to Mamta.
When Shrestha arrived at the house, Bhatt went further. He handed over all of Mamta's jewelry — along with his own ring and chain. "All the jewelry they had," Shrestha said through an interpreter. Asked why, Bhatt told her his mother had instructed him: too many people were coming in and out of the house, and the items would be safer elsewhere. Bhatt told Shrestha that if Mamta returned, the jewelry could be given back; otherwise, it should go to Mamta's mother. Shrestha eventually turned everything over to police.
Shrestha also testified that Bhatt asked her to adopt the couple's daughter. The child is currently being raised by Mamta Bhatt's brother.
DNA and Suspected Blood Evidence
The prosecution's final day of testimony also included forensic analysis linking Mamta Bhatt to suspected bloodstains found inside the home. Crime scene investigators used Bluestar, a chemical agent that reacts to old or cleaned-up blood. After applying the substance in the bathroom, blue luminescence appeared around the bathtub and in front of the shower. Additional evidence of a possible stain was found in the bedroom carpet.
DNA testimony connected the young woman to those stains. Defense attorneys, however, drew a distinction during cross-examination: the forensic analysts who testified were brought in only after crime scene investigators had already gathered the evidence. Bhatt's legal team is expected to challenge the collection methods and forensic techniques used by police when it presents its own case, which was set to begin Wednesday.
Jurors Shown Final Images of Mamta Bhatt
Before resting, prosecutors showed the jury videos of Mamta Bhatt as a healthy young woman. In one clip, she sang a children's song alongside her infant daughter. Another showed the couple embracing. Seated at the defense table, Naresh Bhatt wept as the footage played.
The defense will now present its rebuttal, with forensic methodology expected to be the central battleground.
Source: Courthouse News Service