MUMBAI: After 421 days of desolation, the family of 23-year-old Harsh Sharma, who went missing from IIT-Bombay in 2019, are planning to visit the upcoming Kumbh Mela in Haridwar for a glimmer of hope. “Our son may have gone to some place in search of peace, like an ashram or a place for meditation,” said Dinesh Sharma, his father. “We are hoping against hope to find some clue in Kumbh Mela,” he added.
Harsh walked out of the Powai campus on November 22, 2019, and since then, there has been no news about him. He was unable to cope with studies, and was undergoing treatment for clinical depression. His family tried every possible course of action to find him. Traced all his contacts, checked CCTV camera footage from various stations after he was spotted at Kanjurmarg and Vikhroli, and even visited mortuaries in all city hospitals. They even sought help from an astrologer.
Post the Covid-19 outbreak and the lockdown, with no means left, the family thought he would come home at some point. Now, they are convinced that he is alive and may have gone to a place that is peaceful, and where his basic needs of food and shelter are taken care of.
“Since he was under pressure on campus, he may have gone looking for peace in a place where no one would judge him,” said his mother Kanchan. After intensive search for four months from November 2019, the pandemic may have forced them to go home to Rajasthan in March, but they continued to search online and via regular phone calls to Powai police and possible locations.
PSI Pravin Mahamuni from Powai police said there is no clue in the case. “If he was using a gadget it could have been traced. We informed police in other states too,” he said.
“I want to request everyone from police, NGOs, ashrams, to any shelter, to reach out to us if they have seen him anywhere,” said Harsh’s father. The family requested they be contacted on 9829013477 or 9863893770.