The Cisterna town council will stand as plaintiff in a trial in which an Indian farmworker's Italian employer is accused of intentional homicide. The Indian national Satnam Singh died after his arm was severed during an accident at work in the fields near the town of Latina, not far from Rome, and his employer left him to die.
The town council of Cisterna in Italy has approved its standing as plaintiff in the criminal trial for the death of the Indian farmhand Satnam Singh. On June 17, Singh's Italian employer abandoned him to bleed to death outside his home in Cisterna, where he had been living with a female companion. This tragic incident occurred after Singh's arm was severed during a work accident in the fields near Latina, not far from Rome. According to the plaintiffs, the 31-year-old's death could have been prevented had emergency services been called.
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First hearing on April 1
Following the town council's decision, lawyer Maria Belli del Foro from Latina will present the request to the Court of Assizes in Latina during the first hearing of the trial on April 1. She will represent the town council throughout the proceedings.
"The lawyer," the town council decision reads, "said she was willing to work without payment and showed extreme sensitivity in line with the commitment of the municipal administration in the protection of foreign workers in the case of their being particularly weak and harmed in their dignity as human beings.
"The alleged facts harmed the statutory purposes of the Cisterna town council, which suffered damages to its interests and image, and also created significant upset to the entire local community," states the note.
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Mayor calls it a duty
"I considered it a duty," said Cisterna mayor Valentino Mantini, "for the town council to stand as plaintiff, due to the gravity of the behaviour by an employer, entirely against fundamental human rights. This body represents the interests of the entire community in the territory where Satnam Singh and his partner, Soni, had chosen to live. We aim to foster civil progress and inspire action for the protection of life, the respect for ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity, including through the promotion of the values of culture and tolerance."
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