The husband of a woman who has been missing for over a month is set to stand trial early next year.
Naresh Bhatt has been under suspicion from local community members since his wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, vanished at the end of July. The couple’s Northern Virginia neighbors joined forces with her family in Nepal to try and crack the case. Since her disappearance, supporters have hosted rallies and shared information to raise awareness on social media about the missing mother and nurse, who is 28 years old.
Her husband was arrested just weeks after she disappeared and now faces charges of concealing a dead body. Police believe that Mamta was killed in a fight that took place at her home in Manassas Park, Virginia. A prosecutor from Prince William County previously said that the massive amount of blood found in the home suggests that Mamta was struck with “injuries that are not survivable.”
On Thursday, September 5, Bhatt declined his grand jury proceedings and was not on the road to stand trial. Though the date is to be scheduled for his next hearing on September 16, held in the Prince William Circuit Court, the trial is expected to start as early as next year.
According to Matthew Sweet, the deputy attorney for the Prince William Commonwealth, the decision to waive the grand jury trial is one that is intended to extend the amount of time to prepare against a homicide case. This generally takes more than six months to accomplish.
Sweet explained that the decision was made based on the reality that there are “multiple” witnesses and agencies “to prepare for” who are both out of state and out of the country, which will take time to organize. On the other hand, Bhatt’s public defender, Tracey Lenox, has pointed out that the defendant should still have his right to a quick trial regardless of the prosecutor’s requests for additional time to prepare.
The ongoing case has made headlines around the world and gripped the local Manassas community with intrigue, considering that murder cases in the small suburban area are scarce.
