Italian landowner charged with murder over migrant worker’s death

Antonello L., a farm owner in the Latina province south of Rome, was initially arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of Satnam Singh, an Indian farm worker belonging to Antonello L.’s family.

However, according to Italian media reports, the charges could be expanded from unintentional murder (where someone is killed unintentionally) to intentional murder, due to new information prosecutors say they are gathering.

Prosecutors say Antonello L. left Satnam Singh for dead and failed to call an ambulance. According to an autopsy report conducted after his death, faster action could have saved Satnam Singh, who died from blood loss caused by severe injuries.

Satnam Singh, 31, had reportedly come from India with his wife three and a half years before the accident and had been working in the agricultural sector since arriving in Italy. Il Post.it.

On June 17, Singh was working in the field harvesting melons when his right hand was reportedly severed by a wrapping machine towed by a tractor, crushing his lower limbs.

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Prosecutors say farm owner abandoned worker in his home

After the accident, according to reports in the Italian press, among others: Rai and the Italian press agency RESENTMENTThe farm owner took the injured worker home rather than to the hospital, leaving his severed hand in a fruit crate next to the man. His wife reportedly pleaded with the farm owners to call an ambulance but was refused because they said Singh was already dead.

Rai interviewed a neighbour who eventually called an ambulance, but it came too late for Singh; he was pronounced dead in a Rome hospital two days later.

Statement by Latina prosecutors, according to an online news service 1News in New Zealand, found that “Singh’s condition following his injury was so serious that it was obvious that he required immediate medical attention. It must therefore be concluded at this time that the decision to bypass necessary care constituted an acceptance of the risk of a fatal event and was a unifying cause which directly led to his death.”

According to sources, lawyers representing the farm owner did not respond to Rai’s request for comment.

However, the accused’s father, whose farm it is registered to, said, Rai that his son warned Singh not to get too close to the equipment, and that Singh reportedly took the warning “too lightly.” The father is not currently under investigation by prosecutors.

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Shock and protests

Singh’s death shocked Italy and immigrant communities abroad and sparked protests by unions and farm workers demanding higher wages and safer working conditions for farm workers.

According to reports, a rally was held shortly after Singh’s death on June 19, and on June 25, several thousand Indian farm workers went on strike, marching through the city of Latina and chanting “Stop the exploitation!” World Socialist Party (WSWS).

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has spoken out about the “cruel” exploitation of farm workers in Italy like Singh, and also cited the “inhumane” conditions they have to work in.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called Singh’s death “inhumane and barbaric” and said such acts should be “severely punished”.

The protesters demanded not only justice for Singh, but also permanent residence for his widow and proper healthcare for all affected workers.

An Indian migrant worker at the rally told a French news agency French Agency (AFP), “We all need regular contracts so that we are not trapped in this slavery.” Another anonymous worker said his boss told him he could not take him to hospital when he injured his eye “because he does not have a regular contract.” The man said he had been struggling to get help for the past ten months.

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Details of the prosecutor’s statement

In a statement quoted by The Sard UnionGiuseppe Molfese, the prosecuting judge who signed the arrest warrant, said that “it cannot be overlooked that the suspect was deliberately and voluntarily disinterested in the probable consequences of his actions.”

According to Molfese, the suspect “abandoned the body and limb” of Singh on June 17 and “ran away.” The judge added that the suspect’s actions after the accident also make “possible intent” (possible death) more likely.

In Molfese’s reconstruction of the events that took place on June 17, the suspect “escapes in a van, starts cleaning up the blood.” According to Molfese, “the suspect’s main objective… was clearly to conceal the incident, while on the other hand one of his employees, staying illegally in the country, without a contract, without accident protection and using uncertified work equipment… amputated his hand… lost a lot of blood and suffered other serious injuries.”

Prosecutors say they are still investigating this alleged reconstruction of events, as well as other potential crimes that may have been committed in connection with working conditions, as reported The Sard Union.

According to the newspaper, the suspect defended his alleged actions, saying he was “in shock” after the accident.

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Farm Conditions: ‘People Are Treated Like Cockroaches’

Italy’s largest union, CGIL, estimates that some 230,000 migrant workers are employed in Italy without permanent contracts, workers like Singh. They work mainly in agriculture, as well as in the textile and construction industries, for low wages and long hours.

When British Medical Journal BMJ reported on the employment status of many migrant farm workers in Italy, they said that “people are treated like cockroaches; they live in shanty towns without water, sewage and access to basic health care.”

In the last six years, it is estimated that more than 1,500 migrant workers have died in Italy. According to WSWSThe owners of the farm where Singh worked were previously “charged and convicted” five years ago for “illegal recruitment and exploitation of workers.” At the time, the farm was reportedly paying workers around 200 euros a month for their work.

WSWS said on Tuesday (July 2) that Singh’s death should help “shine a light on the appalling conditions faced by farm workers who toil as modern-day slaves in the fields of Italy”.

Investigations into farms in the area five years ago revealed the existence of a “caporalato network” (gangmasters’ network) operating in the area, which used fake companies and corrupt officials to hire casual workers “illegally and cheaply”, according to WSWS.

The newspaper claims that “little has changed since then”, noting that other workers on the farm where Singh and his wife Alisha worked earned “as little as four euros an hour for a working day of up to 14 hours”.

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Testimony of another farm worker

In mid-June, a man named Taranjeet Singh told an Italian online newspaper: open that he witnessed the accident and could not sleep after Singh died. The man said that he had worked on the farm for a year and a half before the accident and that he too had been in Italy irregularly.

He described the farm owner as a “decent, serious and honest man” who picked up workers each morning and brought them home in the evening, providing shelter for them when it rained.

Taranjeet Singh, however, claimed that the owner of the farm has not been seen since the incident.

Singh said he earned €5.50 an hour on the farm, but because of his irregular status, he also lost his job. “Since Satnam’s death, no one without proper documents can work there.”

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“Special Permission” Granted to the Wife of the Deceased

According to openSatnam Singh’s wife has now been granted ‘special permission’ to stay in Italy. Italian News Agency RESENTMENT said it would end her irregular status in the country. The newspaper also reports that over a three-year period, the agricultural cooperative employing Indian workers received 849,000 euros in state funding.

The Indian government has announced that Times of India last week, is providing “all possible assistance” to Satnam Singh’s family. The Indian embassy in Italy conveyed India’s “deep concern” over the incident and called for immediate action against those responsible.

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