A senior anti-corruption official died after apparently falling from his office building in Chongzhou, Sichuan Province, on Sunday morning as local authorities said he was suffering from depression.

Ke Jianguo, 45, was the head of the anti-corruption bureau under the Chongzhou People's Procuratorate. The investigation into Ke's death is continuing.

On Sunday afternoon, the local government posted on its Sina Weibo that Ke's families and friends said that Ke suffered severe depression and was behaving abnormally.

Ke's medical condition will likely rule out murder, people.com.cn reported on Sunday quoting a source from the local government. The local government and police have so far not said they have ruled out the possibility of foul play.

If Ke's death is confirmed a suicide, he will be the third senior official from the justice sector to have been reported to have taken their own lives this year, caixin.net said.

Qi Xiaolin, 55, a vice president of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau and Zhang Wanxiong, a vice head of the Wuwei Intermediate People's Court in Gansu Province, killed themselves in January. They also reportedly suffered from depression.  

Caixin.net said depression has often been cited as the cause of suicides of officials, suggesting they may have taken their own lives because of more nefarious reasons.

Many Web users on Sina Weibo questioned whether it was only depression that drove the men to take their own lives. Some wondered if local authorities are too quick to dismiss other possible motivations.

Global Times