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Varun Batchigari was arrested in Germany Thursday, Aug. 6, as he got off a flight from Tucson International Airport while planning to travel on to his home country of India, Tucson police have said. He is awaiting extradition to Arizona, where he will be booked into the Pima County jail.

The body of his girlfriend, Julissa Rubi Salazar, was found Thursday in her off-campus apartment in the 1700 block of North Tyndall Avenue by the Tucson Fire Department when it conducted a welfare check requested by her family. 

TFD officers found Salazar, a UA student, dead on the floor of her bedroom with a blanket over her body pulled up to her neck, according to court documents. There were red and purple spots caused by bleeding of her eyes, eyelids and face, and scratch marks on the front of her neck, the records say.

The bedroom was devoid of weapons but investigators found a candle there that was still burning, as well as broken glass and a knocked over plant, indicating signs of a struggle, the records say. Salazar’s car was parked in a different spot than her designated space, her cell phone and bank cards were missing, and the apartment’s video surveillance systems weren’t working, the court documents say. Salazar was wearing jeans and a shirt and was holding a key ring with numerous charms, pendants and fobs in her right hand, but there were no keys on the keychain.

Investigators interviewed Salazar’s roommates, one of whom said they heard “loud screaming and yelling� coming from Salazar’s room on Wednesday, Aug. 5, for quite a few minutes, after which there was a short period of silence, another “outburst� and then complete silence. They also heard a female voice from Salazar’s room but couldn’t tell if there was anyone present besides her and Batchigari.

One of her roommates sent Salazar a text message to see if she was okay and received a response from Salazar’s phone saying she was fine and it was just an “argument.� They didn’t see Salazar after this, and she was later found dead Thursday by the property manager first and then by TFD officers.

One of Salazar’s roommates told investigators they texted with her Wednesday and Thursday when Salazar told them she planned on breaking up with Batchigari. Salazar’s roommate said Batchigari had a “history of violent behavior,� that he was someone Salazar feared, and that he had sexually assaulted her in the past, the court records say.

Salazar’s roommate told investigators they and Salazar decided to become roommates in late 2025, because Salazar was having problems with Batchigari, who had been staying with Salazar at the time.

The roommate also described an incident at a Halloween party where Salazar became “heavily intoxicated� and Batchigari “repeatedly touched� her in a sexual way without her consent and she got so uncomfortable that she had to leave. The next day, the roommate was told that he had sexually assaulted and tried to strangle her after the party, but she didn’t report the assault to law enforcement, the court records say.

Salazar’s roommate also told officers Batchigari had been expelled from the UA after a fight and had lost his job, after which he was facing issues with paying rent and his visa status.

UA spokesperson Mitch Zak confirmed Batchigari was expelled on July 22 and said university officials send their deepest condolences to Salazar’s family, friends and all who knew her as a member of the UA community. Zak said they’d been in touch with Salazar’s family and were providing support and resources to those who need them.

Zak did not answer the ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV’s questions on why Batchigari was expelled from the UA and about details of the fight that reportedly led to it.

Salazar’s roommates said that last week, when Salazar was going to break up with Batchigari, she wanted him to leave the apartment by Wednesday and that she planned to call police if he refused to do so, the court records say. However, on Wednesday night, her roommate got a text from her phone saying she was leaving for Yuma to visit her mother and would stay a couple of days.

Her roommate thought this was unusual since Salazar wasn’t very close to her mother, and she became further worried when Salazar stopped responding to her messages, her phone's location sharing ended and she didn’t come home. She said Salazar had shared worries with her that Batchigari might “seriously hurt her.�

On Wednesday, Salazar also informed her mother that she’d be coming to Yuma to visit her after stopping for gas and to get her cat. She also indicated in this conversation that Batchigari had hacked into her phone and was monitoring her location, according to the court records.

Later on Wednesday, however, Salazar’s mother got a text from her phone saying she wasn’t coming to Yuma, at which point her mother felt something was “off.� Her mother continued checking the location of Salazar’s phone and it showed as being at her apartment until Wednesday night, but the location sharing ended by Thursday morning.

Salazar’s mother also found a pending Lyft charge of approximately $25 on Salazar’s bank card, the records say.