Missing Indian student Saketh Sreenivasaiah found dead in US; friend says he had ‘stopped caring’
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Missing Indian student Saketh Sreenivasaiah found dead in US; friend says he had ‘stopped caring’")
Saketh Sreenivasaiah Photograph: (LinkedIn/Saketh Sreenivasaiah)
Indian student Saketh Sreenivasaiah, 22, was found dead near UC Berkeley days after going missing. The Consulate confirmed his death as his roommate recalled troubling changes in his behaviour.
Saketh Sreenivasaiah, an Indian student from Karnataka, who went missing earlier this week in the United States, was found dead, the Consulate General of India in San Francisco said on Sunday (Feb 15). The 22-year-old was a student of Chemical and Biomolecular engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and was last seen around a kilometre away from the campus on February 10, according to the Berkeley Police Department.
“The Consulate deeply regrets to inform that local police have confirmed the recovery of the body of the missing Indian student, Saketh Sreenivasaiah. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones during this profoundly difficult time,” the Consulate said in a post on x. “The Consulate stands ready to provide all necessary assistance to the family, including coordination with local authorities and arrangements for the repatriation of mortal remains to India at the earliest. Our consular officers are in direct contact with the family and will support them with all required formalities and services.”
What his roommate said
In a LinkedIn post, his roommate, Baneet Singh, wrote, “Hey all, my Berkeley roommate, Saketh Sreenivasaiah, has been found dead in Lake Anza near the Berkeley hills.”
Singh said that his behaviour changed in the last two weeks before his disappearance, saying that Sreenivasaiah “started eating less and engaging less, only surviving on chips and cookies.”
He further described that the 22-year-old told him that he “did not care about anything.”
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“Why are you wearing a robe to class?” Singh asked him on one occasion. To this, Sreenivasaiah responded, “I’ve stopped caring, man. I’m cold and don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I don’t care about anything.”
Singh added that he regretted laughing at his roommate’s remarks thinking he was being “silly.”
“He was always up to something silly. Now I know that he really meant it. The opposite of life was never death. It was indifference. To stop caring, which led to him not caring for his own life, either,” Singh wrote.
“I didn’t expect this from a friend who lived, ate, travelled, laughed and joked with me. It hurts,” he said. “Take this news as a way to bring together love with friends, instead of sitting in sorrow. Saketh would have wanted that for you all, too.”
Who was Saketh Sreenivasaiah?
A student at the University of California, Berkeley, Sreenivasaiah was pursuing his Master of Science in Product Development Programme, according to his LinkedIn profile. He completed his Bachelor of Technology in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
“I’m a Masters student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at UC Berkeley, with an undergraduate degree from IIT Madras. I’m passionate about deep-tech innovations in soft and active materials, semiconductors, and advanced materials,” his LinkedIn bio read.
