Was RTI the cause of the stress leading to the death of Yashkar Sinha?

Deputy Director in the Directorate General of Medical Services, Yashkar Sinha and his wife Archana Sharma were found dead in their flat in Hudco Place in south Delhi on 30^th March afternoon. Their family has informed police that the couple had a healthy relationship and Yashkar had spoken to one of relatives on the 29^th March night. Yashkar's brother had told police that his brother was dealing with RTI applications and that he had indicated that there were pulls and pressures.

A diary of Yashkar has been recovered by the Delhi Police who have not yet confirmed that Yashkar committed suicide after killing his wife due to work pressure. The diary reportedly has a note by Yashkar which says that he was "being pressurised during work". He reportedly informed his cousin Diwakar Tejaswini that he is working on RTI issues and a lot of confidential and sensitive issues that were giving him little bit of stress.

Police is likely to examine the last few RTI applications dealt by the officer. Police has questioned three of his seniors including an additional DG in the course of investigations. In the Ministry of Defence, a culture of not disclosing information under RTI and claiming each piece of information as a security concern has been reported by critics.

While the cause of death of the young couple remains obscure, it does point to the stress being faced by officials.