A week after an Indian farm labour tragically died in Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took this matter to the Italian Parliament and said that her government would ensure strict punishment to those found guilty. Earlier last week, 31-year-old Satnam Singh, who hailed from Punjab, died after he was dumped on the road without medical assistance by his employer after his arm was severed by heavy farm machinery. Singh was injured by heavy machinery while working in a vegetable field in Lazio, near Rome. The Embassy of India in Rome posted on Wednesday on X that it was aware of the very unfortunate demise of an Indian national in Latina, Italy.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Meloni along with other Cabinet Ministers stood up to pay tribute to the Indian worker. "These are inhumane acts that do not belong to the Italian people, and I hope that this barbarity will be punished harshly," Meloni said, in comments relayed by her office.
What happened to Satnam Singh?
"We heard his wife's screams who kept calling for help, then we saw a lad who was holding him in his arms and who carried him into the house," ANSA news agency quoted Ilario Pepe, the owner of the house, as saying. "We thought he was helping him, but then he ran away. "I ran after him," said Pepe, "and I saw him get into a van and I asked him what had happened and why he hadn't taken him to hospital. "He replied 'he's not on the books as a regular employee".
The severed arm was placed in a fruit box. Medical help did not reach Singh until an hour and a half later. He was airlifted to a hospital in Rome but died on Wednesday. Lovato is now under investigation for criminal negligence and manslaughter. Lovato's father told Italian media: "My son had told [Singh] not to go near the machinery, but he didn't listen." "It was sheer carelessness, unfortunately", said Renzo Lovato, speaking to the TG1 first channel news.
"Satnam was thrown out like a dog"
Since his barbaric death, thousands of Indian farm labourers were protesting in Italy and called for an end to "slavery". "He was thrown out like a dog. There is exploitation every day, we suffer it every day, and it must end now. We come here to work, not to die," Gurmukh Singh, head of the Indian community in the Lazio region of central Italy told AFP. According to media reports, Singh was left outside his home after suffering injuries to his arm and legs, with his severed limb placed in a fruit crate. "We heard shouting outside, the guy's wife threw herself at me saying, 'Call an ambulance, call an ambulance'," a neighbour told RAI public television.
India conveys concern to Italy over Satnam Singh's death
Meanwhile, Muktesh Pardeshi, Secretary (CPV and OIA), Ministry of External Affairs, conveyed India's deepest concerns to Luigi Vignali, Director General for Italian Citizens Abroad and Migration Policies, over the death of Satnam Singh and called for prompt action against those responsible. The Indian embassy is currently in touch with the victim's family for consular help and transportation of mortal remains.
According to 2021 data from national statistics office Istat, about 11% of Italian workers were employed illegally, rising to more than 23% in agriculture. The Lazio region, which includes the Agro Pontino, offered to cover Singh's funeral costs. Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, responding to the furore over Singh's death, said the government was "first in line on all fronts to counter any form of exploitation at work".
Italy’s Minister of Labour, Marina Calderone, said the death of Singh had been an “act of barbarity”. Opposition 5-Star Movement (M5S) leader Giuseppe Conte on Thursday urged Meloni to act to stamp out brutal gangmastering. "You lose your arm while you're working in the fields for four euros an hour. You're not immediately treated. They put you in a van and they dump you like rubbish outside your home," Conte wrote on X.
(With inputs from agency)
