Farmer sentenced to 16 years for leaving Indian worker to die
An Italian court has sentenced farmer Antonello Lovato to 16 years in prison for the intentional killing of Indian worker Satnam Singh.
Farmer sentenced to 16 years for leaving Indian worker to die
The court in Latina handed down a 16-year prison sentence, not yet final, to farmer Antonello Lovato for the intentional killing of Indian worker Satnam Singh. The events date to summer 2024 in a field near Borgo Santa Maria, approximately sixty kilometres south of Rome.
Satnam Singh, a 31-year-old man from India, suffered severe injuries while working with an agricultural machine used to cover large plots of land with plastic sheeting. The accident resulted in the amputation of his right arm and the crushing of his legs.
Instead of taking the injured man to hospital, Lovato loaded him onto a van, transported him to the dwelling where he lived, and abandoned him. The severed arm was found beside him inside a fruit crate. The victim's wife, in tears, had begged the farmer to provide assistance, but he fled. Only after approximately a day and a half did neighbours call the emergency services. Singh died in hospital from his injuries.
During the trial, Lovato's defence argued that the man had acted in panic at the moment of the incident. The prosecution, by contrast, had requested a sentence of 22 years.
The case attracted significant media attention, highlighting the exploitation conditions of Asian migrant workers in the Italian agricultural sector. According to estimates cited by German magazine Der Stern, approximately 230,000 people work illegally in Italian agriculture, many of them from India and Pakistan, earning hourly wages of three or four euros. These workers are often victims of unlicensed intermediaries who retain much of their earnings.
Source: Novinky.cz / Der Stern
Source: Novinky.cz