The family of Mamata Kafle, a Nepali nurse who has gone missing in the United States for three weeks, is in a state of distress. The parents are preparing to travel to the US.

“We have no idea about our daughter's condition or if she is even alive,” said Mamata's father, Kamal Kafle. “It's been so many days, and we haven't received any news.”

To gather information about the disappearance, Mamata's mother, Geeta Kafle, and brother, Mahesh Kafle, are making arrangements to travel to the US, according to Kamal. Speaking to the Post, Kamal expressed his growing concern: “We haven't learned anything about her condition; our hearts are pounding heavily. As soon as all the necessary arrangements are made, we plan to leave for the US immediately.”

In the meantime, the police arrested Naresh Bhatt, Mamata’s husband, on Thursday, for an investigation into the case. According to US-based international media CNN, Mamata’s husband Naresh is accused of killing Mamata, a 28-year-old nurse, inside their home and dragging her body outside.

“Naresh Bhatt faces a felony charge of prohibition against concealment of a body, according to court records, and he was taken away in handcuffs Thursday after authorities conducted a search warrant on the couple’s home. Bhatt was in court Friday morning for arraignment,” the CNN report states. “He has not been formally charged with murder, but the preliminary criminal complaint obtained by WJLA states that, ‘on or about July 30, 2024, the accused, Naresh Bhatt, murdered his wife, Mamta Bhatt.’”

The UVA Health Prince William Medical Center nurse, Mamata, has a one-year-old daughter and now the child has been taken to the Department of Social Services.

While Naresh is sued for murder and is to be presented before the court again on Monday, the parents of the missing nurse are not prepared to hear anything unpleasant about her.

“We are heading to the US to find out about Mamata's condition,” said Geeta Kafle, Mamata's mother. “We still have no information about our daughter, and if we can bring our granddaughter back, we will. If it's not possible to bring her to Nepal, we will stay there to look after her. Mamata's daughter is all we have left of her now.”

Mamata’s father mentioned that the family last spoke with her on 30th July. They have been waiting anxiously to hear from her again, but their hopes of communication are fading. They were sad to hear from Naresh, their son-in-law, that Mamata was away and could have suffered the network problem. However, they have been in contact with their granddaughter, Mamata’s daughter, through Mamata's friends in the US, as confirmed by Geeta.

Mamata's early life and marriage

The parents proudly recounted that Mamata was a bright student from a young age and always proved herself to be the best. After completing her school education in Nepal, she went to Bangalore to study nursing. She topped her batch and returned to Nepal after graduation.

During this time, Mamata had an affair with Naresh Bhatt, who was originally from Kanchanpur but was living in the US. “Mamata was our only daughter, and we wanted her marriage to be well-considered,” said Kamal. “We didn’t know much about Naresh’s family, but for Mamata’s happiness, we agreed to the marriage, which took place in Panauti, Kavre.”

Mamata and Naresh were married in December 2020, according to Kamal.

Mamata seemed to have a good relationship with her husband, and Naresh eventually brought her to the US. Kamal even remembers the exact date Mamata left for the US: “It’s been four years now on July 25. Everything seemed fine after she went abroad; she never showed any signs of distress.”

On August 22, last year, Mamata gave birth to a daughter. Kamal mentioned that Mamata had asked her mother, Geeta, to come to the US to help care for the baby. However, before Geeta could go, Naresh’s mother, Parvati Bhatt, decided to go instead, so Geeta's trip was put on hold.

Parents are suspicious of foul play

Mamata’s parents and other kin are suspicious of foul play in the mysterious disappearance as they smelt a rat in Mamata’s mother-in-law’s treatment of their daughter.

“We started hearing that Mamata's mother-in-law, who had gone to the US to care for her, was not treating her well, and was sceptical about Mamata’s indifference to their demand of Chhaupadi, the tradition of keeping a person in different shed during menstrual period,” Kamal said. “Whenever we asked Mamata how she was doing, she always said she was fine. She never told us about the pain she was going through, though we did hear bits and pieces from outside. We thought it was just minor quarrels that would be resolved.”

According to Mamata’s father, there had been some tension in the family recently, leading Mamata to live separately with her daughter for a while. However, after reconciling, they started living together again.

Mamata’s family claims that recently, her husband, Naresh, and his mother had not been treating her well. “During her menstruation, they did not treat her well under the guise of tradition,” said Mamata's aunt, Maiya Kafle.

Maiya complained that ironically the woman who had gone to take care of the puerpera tortured her.

“Her mother-in-law had gone to care for her, but instead, she made Mamata work on an empty stomach and did not provide proper food or care. This has only deepened our suspicions,” she said. “We believe that their relationship started to deteriorate after her mother-in-law went to the US. Even after that, there were issues, which we were suspicious of.”

Mamata’s family are sad not to get the first news of their daughter’s missing through their son-in-law. “After she went missing, we kept asking Naresh for information, but all he said was that she might be found soon. We didn’t see any sign of grief in Naresh. It felt like he wasn’t affected at all by his wife’s disappearance,” Mamata’s aunt said.

These circumstances have led the family to believe that Mamata was not simply missing but may have been made to disappear. “We’ve heard that Mamata was not just made to disappear but was actually murdered,” said her aunt, Maiya. “We have received information that she was killed and her body hidden, with the involvement of Naresh Bhatt’s family.”

The family requested not to let the case be dismissed and demanded that those involved be brought to justice according to the law.