New Delhi: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Wednesday condemned the tragic death of Indian farmer Satnam Singh after his arm was severed while working at a vegetable farm in Lazio, terming the employer’s attitude “disgusting”.
Singh died in the absence of prompt medical aid – he was reportedly “loaded into a van” by the employer, identified as one Antonello Lovato, and dumped by the side of a road near his home with his arm placed in a fruit crate. He was said to be illegally employed at the Italian farm.
“The horrendous and inhumane death of Satnam Singh is an event to be condemned not only for the way in which it occurred but above all for the disgusting attitude of his employer. This is the worst Italy,” Meloni said, while addressing the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, adding that “gangmastering is a plague, far from being defeated but we do not intend to stop fighting it”.
She emphasised that it was among her government’s priorities to restore faith and respect in European institutions “for the men and women who have lived and worked in nature for generations: farmers, fishermen, and breeders”.
“Those who with their work guarantee the food survival of populations but also of the nature in which they operate. Too often these workers have been affected by ideological measures,” she added.
Singh’s death has raised alarm across the European country with labour minister Marina Calderone announcing new measures to combat the exploitation of migrant workers, including increasing the number of labour inspections. Agriculture minister Francesco Lollobrigida also assured that the “government was first in line on all fronts to counter any form of exploitation at work”, according to media reports.
The Indian embassy in Rome stated on X that it was aware of the case, was in contact with local authorities and efforts were underway to provide consular assistance.
The case of Satnam Singh
According to media reports, Satnam Singh took the “donkey route” from Punjab’s Moga to Italy four years ago and was employed at a farm in Lazio, near the capital city of Rome. The 31-year-old’s arm was severed last week while he was driving a plastic wrapping machine at Lovato’s farm. His legs were also crushed in the accident.
An injured Singh was subsequently left with his severed arm by the side of the road near his home. A woman, who the Italian media has reported as Singh’s wife Sony, called for help.
It took more than an hour for medical aid to reach the duo and although he was airlifted to a hospital in Rome, Singh passed away two days later. An autopsy revealed the cause of his death as haemorrhage.
Lovato is now under investigation for criminal negligence and manslaughter.
While the father of the accused has blamed the death on Singh’s own “carelessness”, the issue has opened up a pandora’s box – alleged exploitation of Indian farm workers in Italy, unsafe and unhygienic working conditions, charges of violence and “slavery”.
Italian trade unions have called Singh’s gruesome death “an event of unprecedented brutality” and it has created an uproar in the nation.
Protests have erupted in Latina city – known for caporalato, an illegal gangmaster system where undocumented labour is hired and exploited to work for meagre salaries.
Farmers – both Indian and Italian nationals – took to the streets between 22 and 25 June with placards stating “Justice for Satnam”.
“He was thrown like a dog,” Gurmukh Singh, a representative of the Indian community in Lazo, told AFP. “We come here to work, not to die,” he added.
The practice of caporalato was outlawed in 2016 after an Italian woman died of a heart attack after working 12-hour shifts picking and sorting grapes, for which she was paid €27 (Rs 2,400) a day, a BBC report said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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