Christians more likely to commit suicide than other religions in India?

CB Condez Tuesday, June 07, 2016

Christians in India are more likely to take their own lives than Hindus or people of other religions, and tribals and Dalits are among the castes with high rates of suicide, according to data from the Union Home Ministry.

A Christian holds a candle. New Delhi March 16, 2015. | Reuters/Anindito Mukherjee

"People commit suicide out of helplessness," said PS Krishnan, former secretary of the Ministry of Welfare, as quoted by The Indian Express. "There are a variety of reasons, both economic and social, that lead to suicides. ... Health is another prime reason because of which people commit suicide."

Krishnan also said that as a person gets educated, they find it harder to deal with discrimination and humiliation, as in the case of Rohith Vemula, a Dalit student at Hyderabad Central University who took his life in January.

The 2014 data obtained by the publication reveals that although there were more Hindus and Muslims who took their own lives, the suicide rate among Christians is higher than any other religion in the country.

Suicide rate among Christians in India was recorded at 17.4 per 100,000 or 4,845 cases. Hindu has a rate of 11.3 per 100,000 or 109,271 cases. Muslims, meanwhile, has a suicide rate of 7 per 100,000 or 12,109 incidents. The fourth on ths list is Sikh, with 4.1 per 100,000 suicide rate, amounting to 848 cases.

Within the caste system, the rate among the Scheduled Tribe is 10.4 per 100,000 or 10,850 cases; the Scheduled Caste at 9.4 per 100,000 or 19,019 cases; the OBC or other backward castes at 9.2 per 100,000 or 56,970 cases; and General, which includes other religions, is at 13.6 per 100,000 or 56,970 cases.

"My research shows that economic security is very closely associated with suicides," said author Siby Mathews, former Kerala Director General of fire and rescue services. "One meaning that could be arrived from the data is, perhaps, the minority is not finding expected opportunities to come up."

The 2014 data on religion and caste-based suicide was collected by the National Crime Records Bureau but the Union Home Ministry failed to publish it in 2015. The Indian Express recently received a copy in response to their RTI application.