Naresh Bhatt Says He Cut Up Wife’s Body After Finding Her Dead

Bhatt told the court he found Mamta Kafle Bhatt unconscious on the bedroom floor on July 30, 2024, beside vomit containing blood, food, pill capsules and traces of a pesticide. He said he tried to revive her, including performing CPR, before concluding she was dead. He alleged that his wife had died by suicide.

He testified that he began cutting her body with a saw, starting by trying to separate her legs from her torso. He moved her to the bathroom but stopped that day because he did not have the strength to continue. He said he blocked the bedroom door with a baby changing station, then cared for the couple’s infant daughter. He also said he did not call emergency services because he was frightened and panicked.

Bhatt testified that he later considered hiding the body in the Potomac River and said he had thought about hanging himself. His testimony came on the second day he took the stand in the trial. His wife’s mother briefly left the courtroom during the testimony, and people in the gallery gasped at points.

Bhatt faces charges of killing in the first degree, hiding a corpse, and desecrating human remains. He has been in custody since his August 2024 arrest. Police began investigating after Mamta, a nurse, did not show up for work. Investigators found bloodstains in the couple’s bedroom and bathroom and recovered a power saw with hair fragments. Prosecutors had not yet cross-examined Bhatt as of November 5.