An Indian farm labourer working in Italy died on Wednesday after being abandoned by the roadside following an accident that severed his arm. He was working without legal papers and was cutting hay when his arm was sliced off by a machine, the Flai CGIL trade union said.
The farm worker was identified as Satnam Singh, aged 30 or 31, was injured on June 17 while working on a farm in Latina — a rural area south of Rome that is home to tens of thousands of Indian migrant workers.
“Instead of being helped by his employers he was dumped like a bag of rubbish near his home,” the trade union said, likening the situation to a “horror film”.
Police said they had been called by Singh’s wife and friends, and an air ambulance was sent. “He was flown to a hospital in Rome but he died (today) around midday,” police told AFP.
Labour minister Marina Calderone condemned this “act of barbarity” while addressing parliament. “The Indian agricultural worker who suffered a serious accident in the countryside of Latina and was abandoned in very serious conditions… has died,” she told parliament.
“It was a true act of barbarity,” she said, adding that authorities were investigating, and expressing hope that those who were responsible would be punished.
The centre-left Democratic Party condemned the man’s treatment, in an area known for the exploitation of workers, as a “defeat for civilisation”. “The fight against gangmasters and for dignified and human living and working conditions must continue to be our priority,” it said on X.
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