GUWAHATI: A 20-year-old Indian man has been arrested in Germany after his 19-year-old girlfriend was found dead at her apartment in Tucson, Arizona, with police investigating her death as a homicide.
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The suspect, Varun Batchigari, faces a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of Julissa Rubi Salazar, a college student who was found unresponsive at her apartment near Euclid Avenue and Elm Street on August 6.
Tucson police and emergency crews responded to the apartment after Salazar’s family requested a welfare check. Tucson Fire Department personnel found her unresponsive and pronounced her dead at the scene. Police said she had suffered traumatic injuries consistent with a homicide.
Investigators identified Batchigari, Salazar’s boyfriend, as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant charging him with first-degree murder and kidnapping.
According to police and local media reports, investigators became suspicious after learning that Batchigari allegedly took Salazar’s phone and credit cards and sent a series of messages to her mother after her death.
Authorities later determined that Batchigari travelled to Tucson International Airport on the day Salazar died. He reportedly flew to Houston before travelling onward to Berlin, Germany, with plans to eventually travel to India.
Arizona authorities worked with federal, local and international agencies to have Batchigari detained after he arrived in Germany.
Salazar’s roommates reportedly heard loud screaming from her bedroom on August 5, a day before she was found dead. They later contacted her to check whether she was safe. According to local media reports, Salazar told them she was fine and said the noise had resulted from an argument.
Investigators also learned that Salazar had reportedly been planning to end her relationship with Batchigari. Local media reports said she had previously accused him of sexual assault. The reported allegation was not made to police at the time.
Batchigari remains in custody in Germany and could face extradition proceedings to Arizona. If extradited, he is expected to be booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center and face the first-degree murder charge there.
Batchigari was also facing an unrelated assault case in Pima County, with court records showing that the case was filed in May.
He had reportedly studied business analytics at the University of Arizona but was expelled following a fight. He had also recently lost his job and was reportedly struggling to pay rent, while reports indicated that his visa status was at risk.
The murder case remains under investigation.