Naresh Bhatt appears in court Wednesday

Naresh Bhatt appears in court Wednesday

The Manassas Park father and husband charged with murdering his wife last year and dismembering her body was scheduled to appear in court at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 6th.

MANASSAS, Va. - The Manassas Park father and husband charged with murdering his wife last year and dismembering her body was scheduled to appear in court at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 6th. 

The Prince William County Circuit Court hearing was described to FOX 5 to be an ex parte defense hearing. This is something that is closed to the public -- and the prosecution.

An attorney connected to the case would only share the Virginia code that allows for this type of hearing, which reads in part: " In any case in which a defendant is (i) charged with a felony offense or a Class 1 misdemeanor and (ii) determined to be indigent by the court pursuant to § 19.2-159, the defendant or his attorney may, upon notice to the Commonwealth, move the circuit court to designate another judge in the same circuit to hear an ex parte request for appointment of a qualified expert to assist in the preparation of the defendant's defense."

READ MORE: § 19.2-266.4. Expert assistance for indigent defendants

Other big news in the case came last month, when a judge allowed the murder trial against Naresh Bhatt to be delayed. Instead of starting September of 2025, Naresh Bhatt is now scheduled to face a jury of his peers starting October 5th, 2026. 

READ MORE: Trial for Naresh Bhatt, man accused of killing wife Mamta Kafle, delayed until 2026

"We have to think about the family, so any time there’s a delay for Justice this impacts the family. The family is here from overseas. They're caring for Mamta's baby. They want and deserve closure. And we know that closure now is 14 months later than we thought it was going to be," said Holly Wirth, a friend and former colleague of Mamta Kafle Bhatt, who has been advocating for the family ever since Mamta's disappearance. 

In documents submitted early July, Naresh Bhatt's attorney complained that the Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney office refused to share discovery on an external hard drive, writing, "it took a total of 10 days of labor to download over 1.5TBs of discovery." from the sharing site used instead of the hard drive.

Defense Attorney Shalev Ben-Abraham also claimed the discovery was not properly labeled and had to be organized. "At this point, even if Counsel was able to spend 6 hours a day at the jail 7 days a week, without regard to any other cases, or life, there would simply be no way to provide the discovery to Mr. Bhatt and explain it to him and prepare for trial," the submitted "Notice and Motion to Continue" reads.

READ MORE: Naresh Bhatt charged with murder of wife Mamta Kafle, missing since July: police

About two weeks ago marked one year since then 28-year-old Mamta Kafle Bhatt went missing. Supporters, including those who first reported her disappearance to police and who later helped scour the community searching for her, gathered last week to mark the grim anniversary. 

Naresh Bhatt was arrested on August 22, 2024, in connection with is wife's disappearance. Police said Naresh Bhatt lied about Mamta's whereabouts. Evidence documented at their Manassas Park home included blood found in the couple's bedroom and bathroom.

Investigators believe Naresh Bhatt visited trash site locations in an attempt to conceal a crime.

To this day, Mamta Kafle Bhatt's remains have not been found.

Naresh Bhatt's attorney has denied the allegations. Bhatt is still behind bars, facing felony charges for the murder of his wife and both the defiling and concealment of her dead body.