Court hearing for Naresh Bhatt, husband of missing mother Mamta Kafle Bhatt, pushed back after murder indictment

MANASSAS PARK, Va. (DC News Now) -- The husband of a missing mother from Manassas Park has been indicted on murder charges in her disappearance, according to police.

Naresh Bhatt's court hearing scheduled for Tuesday morning was pushed back until Wednesday because the court did not have an interpreter for him.

The Chief of the Manassas Park Police Department, Mario Lugo, announced the elevated charges against Bhatt Monday night. He now faces a first-degree murder charge and a charge of defiling a dead body.

His wife, Mamta Kafle Bhatt, has been missing since late July. Until now, Naresh has only been charged with concealing a dead body.

Many of Mamta's supporters showed up to the Prince William County Courthouse on Tuesday, expecting to face Naresh in court that same day. However, the hearing lasted only a minute or so and the judge pushed it back by a day.

Mamta's family and her supporters are still working through the emotions of the last 24 hours. Many of them found out about Naresh Bhatt's indictment on a murder charge on social media after online court records were updated after the grand jury convened on Monday.

"It really was a gut punch, because we didn't know that it was coming," said Mamta's former co-worker and family spokesperson Holly Wirth, speaking outside the courthouse Tuesday.

"When I saw that, I dropped my coffee. I was just shocked. I was in pure shock," said Angel Rodas, a supporter of Mamta's.

They learned more Monday night when Chief Mario Lugo made the formal announcement, adding that DNA from large amounts of blood found in the Bhatt home returned as a match to Mamta, and said evidence points to her being "cut up" in the home.

Those details have been hard for many of Mamta's supporters to process.

"The nightmare she endured. The fact that the DNA matched. It's the unimaginable," said Rodas.

The elevated charges mean the court's clock restarts. Naresh Bhatt had been set to go to trial on those initial concealment of a body charges next week, but with the addition of an elevated charge of first-degree murder, it could be a much longer road before he stands trial.

Mamta's supporters say they're willing to wait.

"There are families that never get justice. There are families that have victims, you know, people in their family that were murdered that never get answers. There is solace to know that we are getting answers. We are getting justice and it is going to take time," said Wirth.

The court should have an interpreter for Naresh by Wednesday when he is expected back in court at 9 a.m.