Through a study of 45 neighbourhoods, spread across nine districts in the Indian state of Maharashtra, we find that households that live in the vicinity of a crime-prone area and are not able to rely on community support are considerably more prone to suffer from riots than other households. Nevertheless, holding all else equal, victimisation increases with income per capita.
We also find evidence of targeting even in ‘unplanned’ riots. This suggests that bouts of civil violence previously thought of as ‘monotone’ occurrences of violence, are more complex events where violence is perpetrated at multiple levels. Victimisation is more common in neighbourhoods with weaker social interactions, but some evidence suggests that weak social interactions may also be a consequence of rioting.
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