Two days after DySP Ganapathi reportedly hanged himself at a lodge in Madikeri, his family members seems to be divided over his mental health, with his brother saying that Ganapathi was having "hallucinations". 

While his wife Pavana maintained that her husband had taken his own life owing to harassment from senior officials and vouched for his allegations in a TV interview he gave just hours before his death, Ganapathi’s father and brother says that he faced psychological problems. 

 According to reports, his brother Thammaiah, DySP in Ramnagar told media that Ganapathi had been undergoing treatment for clinical depression and that his behaviour had changed in the last six months.

 “Certain pressures are inevitable in the police department. The allegations levelled by my brother looks like his imagination. He felt that he would be attacked by someone and we had to console him. For the last one year, his behaviour had changed and we identified that he had some psychological issues around six months ago. It felt like he was living in a world of illusion and he hallucinated,” Thammaiah was quoted as saying. 

 Brushing aside doubts that his statements could be stage-managed, Thammaiah said that the matter wasn’t discussed in the department since it was a private matter. “My statements are not stage-managed and I am speaking the truth. The police department cannot be blamed for the suicide,” he said.

Ganapathi’s father also maintained that his son had committed suicide owing to family dispute, which Ganapathi’s wife Pavana readily dismissed.

Saying that the allegations made by her husband were true, she said that he would discuss with her the harassment he underwent at the hands of senior officials. 

The death of DySP Ganapathi has spiraled into a political controversy with him naming two senior officials and minister KJ George for harassing him.

The political battle continues to unfold with CM Siddamaraiah refusing to order an independent probe into the case, instead ordering for a CID inquiry.