Antonello L., the owner of a farm in the province of Latina south of Rome, was initially arrested on charges of manslaughter following the death of Satnam Singh, an Indian worker at the farm owned by Antonello L.'s family.

However, according to reports in the Italian media, the charges might increase from manslaughter, where someone died unintentionally, to intentional homicide, because of new information prosecutors say they are gathering.

Prosecutors allege that Antonello L. left Satnam Singh to die and failed to call an ambulance. According to an autopsy report after the death, more prompt action might have saved Satnam Singh, who died from blood loss caused by his severe injuries.

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

On June 17, Singh was working in the fields harvesting melons, when reportedly his right arm was severed by a plastic wrapping machine on the farm, which was being towed by a tractor, and crushed his lower limbs.

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Prosecutors allege farm owner abandoned worker at his house

After the accident, according to reports in the Italian press, including Rai and the Italian news agency ANSA, the farm owner drove the injured laborer to his house, rather than to the hospital, leaving his severed arm in a fruit crate next to the man. His wife reportedly pleaded with the farm owners to call an ambulance but was refused because it was claimed that Singh was already dead.

Rai interviewed a neighbor who did eventually call an ambulance, but the intervention came too late for Singh, who was pronounced dead two days later at a hospital in Rome.

A statement from prosecutors in Latina, according to the online news site 1News in New Zealand, stated that "Singh’s condition after the injury was so serious that it was obvious he needed prompt medical attention. At the present time, therefore, it must be held that the decision to omit the necessary care constituted acceptance of the risk of the lethal event and united the cause that directly resulted in death."

The lawyers reportedly representing the farm owner had not replied to Rai’s request for comment.

However, the accused's father, to whom the farm is registered, told Rai that his son had warned Singh not to get so close to the equipment, and that Singh had reportedly taken the warning "too lightly." The father is not currently under investigation by prosecutors.

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Shock and protests

Singh’s death has shocked Italy and migrant communities abroad and sparked protests from unions and farm workers, demanding better pay and safer conditions in which migrant agricultural workers labor.

A rally took place soon after Singh’s death on June 19 and several thousand Indian agricultural workers went on strike on June 25, marching through the city of Latina chanting "stop exploitation!" according to the World Socialist Website (WSWS).

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has spoken out about the "cruel" exploitation of migrant farm workers in Italy, like Singh, and also mentioned the sometimes "inhuman" conditions in which they are often expected to work.

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

The protesters not only demanded justice for Singh, but also the right to permanent residence for his widow, as well as proper health care for all injured laborers.

A migrant worker from India at the rally told the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP), "we all need regular labor contracts so that we are not trapped in this slavery." Another unnamed worker said that his boss had told him he couldn’t take him to hospital when he injured his eye "because you don’t have a regular contract." The man said he had been fighting for help for the last ten months.

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Details of prosecutor's statement

In a statement cited by L’Unione Sarda, Giuseppe Molfese, the prosecuting judge who signed the arrest order, said that "it cannot be overlooked that the suspect was intentionally 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 "fled." The judge went on to say that the suspect’s actions following the accident also make the "possible intent" (probable death) more likely.

In a reconstruction of what Molfese believes happened on June 17, the suspect "escapes with the van, proceeds to clean up the blood." According to Molfese, the suspect’s "main aim… was clearly to conceal the incident, on the other hand, one of his workers, illegal on the national territory, without a contract, without anti-accident protections and using non-certified work equipment,…had amputated an arm…was profusely losing blood and had suffered other serious injuries."

Prosecutors say they are continuing to investigate both this alleged reconstruction of events, as well as other potential crimes that may have been committed, with regard to working conditions, reported L’Unione Sarda.

According to that newspaper, the suspect has defended his alleged actions, saying he was "in shock" after the accident.

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Conditions at farms: 'People are treated like cockroaches"

Italy’s biggest union CGIL estimates that around 230,000 migrant workers are employed in Italy without regular contracts, workers like Singh. These people tend to work predominantly in the agricultural industry, as well as textiles and construction for low pages, and long hours.

When the British Medical Journal BMJ reported on the state of employment for many migrant agricultural workers in Italy, they said "people are treated like cockroaches; they live in shanty towns with no water, no sanitation and no access to basic healthcare."

In the last six years, more than 1,500 migrant workers are thought to have died in Italy. According to the WSWS, the owners of the farm where Singh worked were already "charged and convicted" five years ago of "illegal recruitment and exploitation of labor." According to reports, at that time, the farm was paying laborers around 200 euros a month for work.

WSWS said on Tuesday (July 2), that Singh’s death should help to "cast a spotlight on the appalling conditions facing agricultural laborers 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" (gangmaster network) operating in the area that used fake companies and corrupt officials to employ day laborers "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 were earning "just four euros an hour for a working day of up to 14 hours."

Also read: Italy, agriculture and migrant workers' rights

Testimony of another farm worker

In the middle of June, a man named as Taranjeet Singh told Italian online news journal Open that he had witnessed the accident and couldn’t sleep following Singh’s death. The man said he had been working at the farm for a year and a half before the accident, and that he too was in Italy irregularly.

He described the farm owner as "decent, earnest and serious," who would pick up the workers each morning and bring them home each night and provide shelter if it was raining.

However, Taranjeet Singh said that since the incident, the farm owner had not been seen.

Singh said that he earned 5.50 euros an hour at the farm, but because of his irregular status, he has now lost his job too. "Since Satnam’s death, no one without the correct papers is allowed to work there."

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'Special permit' granted to wife of deceased

According to Open, Satnam Singh’s wife has now received a "special permit" to stay in Italy. The Italian news agency ANSA reported this will end her irregular status in the country.

The Indian government, reported the 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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