PurposeCOVID-19 lockdown imposed by the government in India affected markets, factories, industries, construction sites, restaurants, transport services, etc. in which migrant workers were engaged. Migrant workers expected that after the imposition of the lockdown government will facilitate transportation facilities to their hometowns as they lost their jobs. But due to negligence from both the central and the state governments, neither transportation was arranged nor food, shelter or health facilities were arranged. This paper aims to investigate the causes of the death of migrant workers under the theoretical framework of negligence theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have applied the content analysis method and collected 926 death cases of migrant workers from 28 Indian states. The researchers applied this technique as the newspapers in India are one of the largest and most useful sources to generate a report/record on migrant workers causes during the COVID-19 lockdown. During the lockdown period, due to lack of attention from the government, police atrocities, hunger and accidental cases increased which resulted in the death of migrant workers.FindingsThe finding of the study proves that during the first phase of COVID-19 lockdown the death cases of migrant workers increased due to negligence by the governments. The number of death cases of migrant workers has been analysed through applying negligence theory which included duty, breach, cause, in fact, proximate cause and harm which increased the death cases. It has been noticed that the central government without any prior notice-imposed lockdown all over India, in which all the states were not received any guidelines or communication which indicate what they have to do or how to handle the Covid-19 situation.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is an original work of researchers which is basically based on negligence theory.

The cases of hate crime have been committed and are being committed against marginalized groups based on their caste, class, ethnicity, race, and religion. The hatred and discrimination have also arisen fear, insult, tension, and trolling among marginalized groups. The study aims to understand nature of hate crime in the socio-cultural context of India using the theoretical framework of social identity theory. The present study employs ontological textual analysis for examining hate crime. The data have been collected through various Indian newspapers. The cases of hate crime have been collected from year 2018 to 2020. The study reveals that a large portion of hate crimes stem from false information, rumors, and hate speech that are spread on social media platforms.

The expectation of family members and society towards students has increased in recent years to perform well or achieve success in their life. But lack of job opportunities and increased competition among students has depressed the student community. The expectation without support has negatively impacted students which has catalysed suicide among the students in India. Students are committing suicide in Indian society due to failure in achieving families’ expectations which is a matter of grave concern for social scientists. The current study has applied content analysis as a method to evaluate the cases of student suicide. The cases of student suicide have been collected from different newspapers, magazines, and news portals from July 2020 and April 2021. The study finds that most students are committed suicide due to depression. The study points out that students committed suicide due to failure to fulfil the expectations of a family member.

Purpose Farmer suicide as a social issue has existed in India since past three decades. Though many studies have been conducted from different perspectives to understand the causes and consequences of farmer suicide, very few studies have looked at the issue from a multidimensional perspective. By using the Durkheimian view of suicide, this paper aims to analyse the subjective meaning behind the social fact of suicide. It accesses the nature and pattern of suicide and examines the determinants of suicide from a socio-ecological paradigm. Design/methodology/approach The present study mostly relies on National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on “accidental deaths and suicide in India” for the year 2018, 2019 and 2020 for the analysis of pattern and determinants of farmer suicide in India. The analysis of the data has been done in Excel, and descriptive statistics have been presented through simple contingency table. Findings The study found that in the past ten years, there has been a steady decline in the number of farmer suicide in India; however, some states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka continue to report high incidence of farmer suicide. Using a socio-ecological paradigm, the paper found that the farmer’s social system which is constituted of individual characteristics and societal characteristics has a direct impact on the tendency of a farmer to commit suicide. It was observed that the stronger the relationship between an individual and its microsystem, there is less chance of a person to commit suicide. Originality/value This is an original paper based on NCRB data for the year 2018, 2019 and 2020. The data for the farmer suicide has been calculated including the suicide of the agricultural labourers and the farmers/the cultivators.

Purpose As we know that whole world is facing global pandemic or COVID-19 for past six months including India. It has created many psychosocial problems among the millions of people of the society. Committing suicide is one of them owing to COVID-19, and it is the matter of grave concern for the social psychologists. This study is based on secondary data. The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of suicides in Indian society during COVID-19 and to explore the factors affecting committing suicides during COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach The secondary data have been collected for the study of suicide because of COVID-19 through various newspapers and monthly magazines. The cases of suicide because of COVID-19 have been collected between March 2020 and July 2020. The authors have used content analysis method to analyse the cases related to suicide because of COVID-19. Findings This study finds that the nature of committing suicide is anomic, egoistic and altruistic in the current pandemic. The study also points out that most of individuals have committed suicide in this current pandemic owing to fear of corona infection and economic crises because of nationwide lock down. Originality/value This is an original paper which is based on content analysis. Basically, the present paper has examined the nature of suicide in India because of COVID-19 and nationwide lockdown using Durkheim’s perspective of suicide.

There are various kinds of discrimination is prevailing in Indian Society. India is practising discrimination against the lower caste for many centuries. But in contemporary Indian Society, caste-based discrimination is becoming a matter of grave concern for committing suicide. Caste-based discrimination is surviving in Indian society. In many cases of caste discrimination, Dalits were persecuted by the upper caste of Indian society for demanding education, employment, and equal social status. Every year several Dalits were committing suicide due to atrocities and discrimination. The present study will understand the nature of suicide among Dalits due to social discrimination and explores the factors affecting Dalit suicide. The data on suicide have been collected from 2011 to 2021 through various newspapers, magazines, journals and articles.