A big part of Shantaram is how car accidents were punished by riot. Apparently crashing into pedestrians could get you and your passengers beaten to death by a mob. Any truth to this?
Having spent all my childhood in India, I'm inclined to say yes.
Unlike North America's overall individualism, Indian society, in large part relies on a strong sense of community (based either on religion or class). (Of course, there is more nuance to it, and I concede that my statement is, to some extent, an oversimplification.) A direct consequence of this communal feeling then is a mob mentality that is not afraid to play vigilante. The vigilante part is only exacerbated in the absence of a fair policing and judicial system.
There have been multiple cases [1],[2] where a mob has taken matters into their own hands either out of a collective sympathy for the victim [1] or a collective animosity toward the driver [3]. There are many more instances one can find, and at the risk of sounding political, crashing into a cow will get you into more trouble than crashing into people.
