IIT student missing: 'He was supposed to quit, join family business'

Harsh Sharma has been untraceable since he walked out of the campus on November 22

The whereabouts of Harsh Sharma, the 20-year-old, third-year, B.Tech student of IIT-Bombay is still a mystery. mid-day spoke to Pradeep Kumar, 18, Harsh's only friend in the Powai campus. Pradeep and he became friends as they both shared a hostel room in their first year and hailed from the same state.

"I met Harsh the day he disappeared. After the examination, he told me that he skipped the paper because he was not feeling ready. In fact, he had taught me a couple of modules from the same subjects a few days earlier. But I did not ask him anything as I was aware of his condition and knew that his father was also on the campus to help him with his treatment," Pradeep said.

"Harsh then came over to my room after some time and we spoke about the assignment and then he told me how he was going to leave the institute. Knowing the situation, I felt it was a good decision and that he would no longer be tense once he goes back home. But this thought never even crossed my mind that he would just disappear like this," added Pradeep.

Further elaborating on his friend's behaviour, Pradeep said, "He was a bit different from everyone else. There was never really an issue as such due to which he should have been tense. His studies were going fine. Yes, his score had dropped but that was not a big issue. But, he continuously kept thinking negatively about everything starting from what if he failed, what if he does not get an internship. But there was no pressure or comparison in the institute or at his family front. In fact, he along with the support of his parents had decided to quit the institute and go back to his hometown to handle his family business."

After joining IIT Bombay, Harsh had joined the music group to play the guitar but stopped it quickly. According to Pradeep, soon after the first year, Harsh was engulfed in his thought process, mostly thinking negative, not talking to anyone. "He would speak to his mother on phone, but only whenever she called," told Pradeep.

Harsh's father, Dinesh Sharma who is still in Mumbai looking for his son is hoping that Harsh will see the news about how they are trying to find him. "Since he has not taken his mobile phone with him, it is becoming difficult for police to locate him. We have no clue why he would take such a decision," Dinesh said.

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