Saketh Sreenivasaiah, a 22-year-old UC Berkeley student from Karnataka, was found dead in the US six days after he went missing. In a LinkedIn post, the student’s roommate Baneet Singh said Saketh had been eating less for the past two weeks, “surviving on crisps and biscuits”.
Saketh reportedly said he “stopped caring” when Baneet Singh asked him if he should wear a robe to class, Hindustan Times reported.
Noting that the life of an international student is tough, Singh wrote that until the last two weeks, Sreenivasaiah showed no signs of anxiety or anything else. He said the 22-year-old “began to eat less and engage less, subsisting on crisps and biscuits”.
(Livemint could not independently verify the authenticity of the LinkedIn post)
Saketh’s last conversation with his roommate
Baneet Singh also recalled his last exchange with Saketh Sreenivasaiah. He said he saw the 22-year-old returning from class wearing a red bathrobe.
Singh curiously asked Saketh why he was wearing a robe in class. Sreenivasaiah replied, “I’ve stopped caring, man. I’m cold and I don’t care what anyone thinks about me. I don’t care about anything,” HT reported.
Singh regretted laughing at his roommate’s remarks at the time, saying he thought “Saketh was just being silly as usual”.
Who was Saket Sreenivasaiah?
Sreenivasaiah, who was pursuing a master’s degree in the product development program at the University of California, Berkeley, was last seen near Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park.
His backpack, containing his passport and laptop, was discovered on a doorstep in the Park Hills neighborhood, according to a report by The Berkeley Scanner.
On Saturday, February 14, the Karnataka government approached the Center and sought the support of the Ministry of External Affairs. In a letter to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Principal Secretary Rajneesh asked the ministry to provide all necessary assistance, including coordination with local law enforcement agencies and support to the family, through the Consulate General of India in San Francisco.