Baneet Sidd, the roommate of 22-year-old Indian student Saketh Sreenivasaiah, who was found dead in California, has shared an emotional message reflecting on the struggles faced by international students.
Saketh, who had been missing since February 9, was found dead at Lake Anza on Saturday afternoon.
In a post on LinkedIn, Sidd said authorities informed him that the case was being treated as a suicide. He described the news as deeply distressing, saying it had left the campus community “shaken to the core.”
Who Was Saketh Sreenivasaiah?
Originally from Karnataka, Saketh was pursuing a master’s degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His LinkedIn profile noted that he had completed his undergraduate studies at IIT Madras before moving to the United States for higher education.
Reflecting on the weeks leading up to the incident, Sidd wrote that there had been subtle changes in Saketh’s behaviour. According to him, over the last two weeks, Saketh had been eating and sleeping less, interacting minimally, and largely surviving on snacks.
He also recalled that on January 21, Saketh had invited him to visit Lake Anza. Sidd said he did not accompany him at the time and later realised that the same location became the site of his death.
Saketh Appeared Detached
In his post, Sidd recounted a recent conversation in which Saketh appeared unusually detached. He remembered Saketh saying he had stopped caring about what others thought and felt emotionally numb. At the time, Sidd said, he dismissed the remarks as casual or humorous, as Saketh was known for his light-hearted nature.
Looking back, Sidd wrote that he now believes those words reflected a deeper sense of indifference. He ended his message by highlighting how challenging life can be for students living abroad, far from home and familiar support systems.
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances surrounding the death.
