Latina

Dead farmhand, company owner investigated for manslaughter

The Latina Public Prosecutor's Office, headed by Giuseppe De Falco, investigated the owner of the company where Satnam worked.

19 June 2024Aggiornato il 20 giugno alle 14.00

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L'ospedale San Camillo di Roma e nel riquadro in alto Satnam Singh, il trentunenne di origine indiana che lunedì pomeriggio era rimasto coinvolto in un terribile incidente sul lavoro in un'azienda agricola di borgo Santa Maria, nella periferia di Latina, dove aveva perso il braccio in un macchinario avvolgiplastica a rullo trainato da un trattore, il quale gli aveva schiacciato anche gli arti inferiori. L'uomo, invece di essere soccorso, era stato abbandonato davanti la sua abitazione con il braccio tranciato, poggiato sopra una cassetta utilizzata per la raccolta degli ortaggi. Dopo esser stato trasportato d'urgenza in eliambulanza all'ospedale San Camillo, a Roma, dove era ricoverato in prognosi riservata in gravi condizioni, il trentunenne è spirato questa mattina nel nosocomio romano.

3' min read

Involuntary manslaughter is the crime hypothesis for which the Latina Public Prosecutor's Office, headed by Giuseppe De Falco, has investigated the owner of the company where Satnam Singh worked, the 31-year-old Indian citizen who died at the San Camillo hospital in Rome on Wednesday, after being the victim of an accident at work, when he was found dying, with his arm amputated and his legs lacerated by a machine.

The Story

Exploited and abandoned. This is how Satnam Singh died, the 31-year-old labourer of Indian origin who was left on the road in agony after losing his right arm in an accident at work on a farm in Borgo Santa Maria, in the countryside of the province of Latina.

The man died this morning at the San Camillo hospital in Rome, where he had been in a very serious condition in a reserved prognosis since last Monday afternoon. The limb, which had been severed cleanly from a winding machine on the Lovato farm, had been left next to Singh resting on a fruit box, a chilling detail in a story of savagery and exploitation.

Working without a contract

Because Singh did not even have a regular contract: the owner of the company where the labourer worked, already under investigation for culpable wounding and hit-and-run, now risks being charged with manslaughter. No one called for help but Singh was instead loaded onto a minibus and taken to his home. The employer himself told the investigators. And as the minibus drove along the road to Sant'Ilario, the labourer's wife, employed by the same company, on board pleaded for an ambulance. But to no avail. Singh was literally dumped in front of his house, then his family called for help. The 118 paramedics put the Indian labourer into an air ambulance and he was rushed to St. Camillus, where he died this morning.

The owner of the company, assisted by lawyers Stefano Perotti and Valerio Righi, was heard for several hours by the soldiers of the Latina company, headed by Major Paolo Perrone. It is still to be ascertained whether the decision not to call for help was linked to contractual irregularities or to the worker's lack of residence permit.

Singh had arrived in Italy together with his wife, both of whom had been employed in the same company for two years. A life like that of many Indian citizens who are numerous in the Pontine province, and who work mainly in the countryside or on farms. So much work, so few guarantees.

The reactions

Singh's case shocked and moved. The Lazio Region has announced that it will be a civil plaintiff in the trial against those responsible and will pay for the funeral. Not only that. It has convened 'an urgent round table with the regional trade unions on the issue of safety in the workplace' also in the light of the imminent heatwaves that can be fatal for those who work bent over in the fields for so many hours.

The mayor of Latina, Matilde Celentano, has also decided to declare mourning and display the flag at half-mast. Singh's sad affair reopens the chapter of the piaga of caporalato. Coldiretti calls for 'severe punishments and strict controls that strike at illegal work and exploitation, bringing to light those pockets of undeclared work that also compete unfairly with regular businesses'.

The CGIL and UIL are calling for 'immediate action on the issue of safety, an emergency among emergencies' and the CISL is calling for 'the dignity and safety of work in all production sectors to be guaranteed'. The opposition, with the PD and M5S, speak of a 'beastly act' and 'point of no return'. Marina Calderone, Minister of Labour, also intervened, speaking of a 'barbaric act that must be pursued in all venues' and expressing the government's commitment 'to provide every assistance to the authorities, as we have been doing since the early hours to ascertain the facts and ensure that those who committed them are punished'.

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