VA VA - Mamta Kafle Bhatt, 28, mom & pediatric nurse, 'involuntary missing,' husband reported her missing Aug 5, Manassas Park, 31 July 2024 *Arrest*

[MassGuy]

Moo... This was deliberate to conceal information from the public and unusual.

I agree. It’s one thing if you’re talking about protecting a living victim, which is the whole purpose of that court. It’s another thing entirely when the charges are directly linked to a homicide.

There’s no victim to protect here.

 

[Parsnip]

Moo... This was deliberate to conceal information from the public and unusual.

Not at all unusual, ime. Judges and prosecutors are very protective of children. Affidavits will be sealed.

 

[MomMommyMom2]

I agree. It’s one thing if you’re talking about protecting a living victim, which is the whole purpose of that court. It’s another thing entirely when the charges are directly linked to a homicide.

There’s no victim to protect here.

The victim here now is the baby

 

[MassGuy]

Not at all unusual, ime. Judges and prosecutors are very protective of children. Affidavits will be sealed.

These charges do not pertain to a child, as the legal victim in question is an adult.

 

[TTF14]

These charges do not pertain to a child, as the legal victim in question is an adult.

I hope there won't be charges for harming the child coming up .

 

[Parsnip]

These charges do not pertain to a child, as the legal victim in question is an adult.

There may be charges related to the child.

 

[MassGuy]

I hope there won't be charges for harming the child coming up .

If they had any evidence of that, they wouldn’t have waited until this morning to arrest this guy. Friends and neighbors have been keeping an eye on her, and law enforcement was there all last night too.

Its all related to Mamta, and they’re using the domestic element to keep certain evidence away from the public, as it is intertwined with a forthcoming murder charge.

I get why they’re doing it, but I don’t like it.

 

[MassGuy]

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[citizen_sleuth]

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I’m sorry, the police are having a community meeting (presumably open to the public as Mamta does not have any family in the US) but are excluding reporters???? I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of that before

 

[BenjaminJAndersonAlly]

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Here are some additional MSM news stories discussing the concealment charges.

 

[Simply Southern]

I’m sorry, the police are having a community meeting (presumably open to the public as Mamta does not have any family in the US) but are excluding reporters???? I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of that before

This is the group that's been searching for her. LE has been meeting with them daily.
Moo

 

[Simply Southern]

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Here are some additional MSM news stories discussing the concealment charges.

I noticed, a female LE Officer escorted him out. How appropriate.

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Are investigators still at the residence? Or have they left?

As @TTF14 suggests above also wonder if MKB might still have been hidden in that house? But as time goes on that likelihood decreases. Hope investigators can turn that place upside down. And if she is not there, hope they can recover some video, surveillance, CCTV and other vehicle information on where she might have been taken. MOO

 

[kaen]

If she was there, they would have the coroner come out. My guess is that she is not there AND they are trying to piece this together bc it is a real possibility that she will not be found.

 

[MassGuy]

The victim here now is the baby

Not legally; that's not how it works.

They don't seal criminal cases because the victim in question has a child. They were able to do it because of the domestic element, which is still dubious because the victim isn't alive.

 

[DaisyMaesMama]

JD&R records are actually available in Virginia for certain crimes involving adults.

This case is available.

 

[Parsnip]

Not legally; that's not how it works.

They don't seal criminal cases because the victim in question has a child. They were able to do it because of the domestic element, which is still dubious because the victim isn't alive.

There could be, and there are likely, charges related to the child. Hence DR. The affidavits would be sealed, and the right of the local jurisdiction to remove the child from father’s custody would be addressed. There may be discovery related to J/DR charges that pertain to criminal charges against father, but that would ultimately be litigated in PTCs.

 

[DaisyMaesMama]

JD&R records are actually available in Virginia for certain crimes involving adults.

This case is available.

Also of potential interest - Offense Date listed as 7/30

 

[citizen_sleuth]

Not legally; that's not how it works.

They don't seal criminal cases because the victim in question has a child. They were able to do it because of the domestic element, which is still dubious because the victim isn't alive.

That’s my understanding as well. According to the Virginia manual about J&D courts, adults charged with felonies in J&D court will have their case transferred to circuit court after the preliminary hearing or the case will be dismissed. MOO but it seems to me like LE is trying to keep the details of the case from the public as long as possible while they work up murder charges (the accused must have a preliminary hearing date scheduled no later than 90 days from their arrest, so it might be quite a while before we learn anything).

 

[DaisyMaesMama]

That’s my understanding as well. According to the Virginia manual about J&D courts, adults charged with felonies in J&D court will have their case transferred to circuit court after the preliminary hearing or the case will be dismissed. MOO but it seems to me like LE is trying to keep the details of the case from the public as long as possible while they work up murder charges (the accused must have a preliminary hearing date scheduled no later than 90 days from their arrest, so it might be quite a while before we learn anything).

If you scroll to page 8, under the Adult Criminal Cases section, it addresses felonies like this one. The same rules that apply to cases involving minors and protected victims do not necessarily apply here. It can be very nuanced, and I’m only familiar as a longtime resident of northern Virginia and how it works.