CHANDIGARH: A 20-year-old Indian student has been arrested in Germany after fleeing the United States (US) before he could board a connecting flight to India. He faces a first-degree murder charge after his 19-year-old American girlfriend was found dead in her apartment in Tucson, Arizona.
Varun Batchigari (20), a business analytics student at the University of Arizona, allegedly murdered his 19-year-old girlfriend, Julissa Rubi Salazar, on August 6.
According to local media reports, police and emergency crews were called to an apartment near Euclid Avenue and Elm Street at around 4 pm on Thursday after Salazar’s family requested a welfare check.
Tucson Fire Department crews found Salazar unresponsive and pronounced her dead at the scene. Police said she had suffered traumatic injuries consistent with homicide. Investigators identified her boyfriend, Batchigari, as the main suspect and alleged that Salazar had been strangled.
Detectives reportedly became suspicious of Batchigari after learning that he allegedly took Salazar’s phone and credit cards and sent a series of messages to her mother while posing as the victim in an apparent attempt to conceal the crime. The messages raised concerns among Salazar’s family, prompting the welfare check that led officers to discover her body.
Investigators later determined that Batchigari had gone to Tucson International Airport on the day of Salazar’s death. He boarded a flight to Houston before connecting to a flight to Berlin, Germany, with plans to eventually travel to India.
In a statement, the Tucson Police Department (TPD) said Batchigari travelled to Tucson International Airport, where he boarded a flight to Germany with plans to continue to India.
“Detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging Batchigari with first-degree murder and kidnapping. Through close coordination between TPD, the FBI Tucson Office, and the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Berlin, Batchigari was taken into custody upon his arrival in Germany, preventing him from continuing his travel,” the statement said.
According to the warrant obtained by local media, Batchigari had previously been involved in an assault case investigated by the University of Arizona Police Department. The warrant also includes allegations from multiple witnesses describing prior violent behaviour.
Batchigari was reportedly in lawful immigration status at the time of the alleged murder, despite having been expelled from the University of Arizona. He is awaiting extradition to Arizona, where he will be booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Complex on the charges outlined in the warrant.
On August 5, Salazar’s roommates reportedly heard loud screaming coming from her bedroom and later texted her to check if she was okay. Salazar allegedly replied that she was fine and that the noise had been caused by an argument. Investigators also learned that Salazar had reportedly been planning to end her relationship with Batchigari.
Batchigari was also facing an unrelated assault case in Pima County, with court records showing that a case was filed against him in May. He had reportedly attended the University of Arizona, where he studied business analytics, but was expelled following a fight. He had also recently lost his job, reportedly leaving him unable to pay his rent and putting his visa status at risk.