A government official who worked on the Committee for Discipline Inspection in Gongan County, Hubei Province, was found dead in his office on August 27.

According to Gongan County's Publicity Department of the Party Committee, investigations carried out into Xie Yexin's death revealed that he had committed suicide.

Xie's bereaved family members dispute the official verdict of suicide, however. One of Xie's relatives was present during the autopsy and pointed out that there were eleven knife wounds on the dead man's body. The resulting speculation surrounding Xie's death meant that a press conference scheduled for 8PM yesterday was cancelled.

Guan Haoxiang, Deputy Secretary of the Committee for Discipline Inspection, said in an interview that the deceased government official had worked on the Committee for 17 years. Guan also stated that Xie had neglected to submit an application for promotion, which meant that he was overlooked for advancement. Guan suggested that this was a possible reason for Xie's suicide.

One of Xie's bereaved relatives stated that Xie was a happy, outgoing person who had no psychological issues. He went on to say that Xie's daughter is soon due to graduate from college and that Xie had no reason to take his own life.