The case caused a stir far beyond Italy in the summer of 2024.Image: www.imago-images.de
Jul 9, 2026, 3:33 amJul 9, 2026, 3:33 am
In Italy, a farmer allowed a harvest worker from India to bleed to death in the field after an accident at work – he has now been sentenced to 16 years in prison for this. A court in Latina, south of Rome, found the 39-year-old guilty of intentional homicide. The case caused a stir far beyond Italy in the summer of 2024. He drew attention to the sometimes inhumane working conditions for workers from Asia who toil for low wages in Italian agriculture.
While working in a field in the south of Rome, the 31-year-old Indian was caught in a machine that severed his right arm and crushed his legs. However, his employer did not take him to the hospital after the accident, but instead drove him to his home in a van and left him there. The severed arm was discovered in a fruit crate nearby. A day and a half later, the Indian died from his injuries in hospital.
Estimate: 230,000 people employed illegally
The Indian – a man named Satnam Singh – came to Italy with his wife in 2021. According to estimates, around 230,000 people are employed illegally in Italian agriculture – including many migrants from countries such as India or Pakistan who work for hourly wages of three or four euros or even less. Part of the production also ends up in German supermarkets. The unions speak of systematic exploitation.
The accident occurred in a field near the municipality of Borgo Santa Maria, about 60 kilometers south of Rome, where melons and zucchini are grown. Singh got caught in a machine that covers large areas of the fields with plastic. His wife said: “I begged the owner to help us, I begged him on my knees. But he dropped us off in front of the house and ran away.” Neighbors first called the emergency number.
The public prosecutor had requested an even higher sentence
Singh was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Rome, where he died as a result of his injuries. The employer explained his behavior by saying that he had panicked. The public prosecutor’s office had demanded 22 years in prison. Appeals are still possible against the verdict, which was handed down on Wednesday evening. The exploitation is often organized through a system in which illegal middlemen act as intermediaries between companies and workers and withhold a large part of the wages. (sda/dpa)