The 31-year-old Indian laborer who lost an arm in a work accident and died from his injuries was called Satnam Singh and nicknamed Navi. His employer Antonello Lovato, 38, is under investigation for manslaughter, violation of workplace safety regulations and failure to provide aid. Singh worked at the Lovato agricultural company on Via del Passo in Borgo Santa Maria in the province of Latina. He had arrived three years ago with his wife Alisha known as Sony from India. He received a salary of 4-5 euros an hour. And he remained for ninety minutes with his arm detached before arriving at the San Camillo hospital in Rome by air ambulance. The plastic wrapping machine also caused his legs to fracture. The Latina prosecutor’s office ordered an autopsy.
Antonello Lovato’s version
Lovato, assisted by lawyers Stefano Perotti and Valerio Righi, did not deny having loaded Satnam Singh into his car to take him home. According to the police he was driving the van together with other people. Singh and his wife were abandoned in front of their home not far from the camp. The amputated arm was collected and placed in a fruit box then left near the 31-year-old’s body. She said she had asked several times to take her husband to hospital, to no avail. Lovato instead claims that it was his wife who asked to take Singh home and not to the hospital. «The wife shouted “home, home” and I accompanied them there. Then I saw that as soon as I got out of the van, in Borgo Santa Maria, a man had called the ambulance and I went to the police station to explain what had happened”, claimed Lovato.
The plastic wrapping machine
Sony’s version is different: “I begged the owner to help us, I begged him on my knees, but he dumped us in front of the house and ran away, throwing away the cassette with the detached arm inside,” the woman told investigators. «It’s not a horror film, unfortunately it’s all true. They both worked illegally”, said Hardeep Kaur, general secretary of Flai CGIL of Frosinone and Latina. The plastic wrapping machine attached to a tractor that Singh was using is seized. Lovato said that after the moment of panic he still called for help. The 31-year-old, illegal immigrant, was not under contract. He worked as a day worker and on Monday he was picked up by bus together with his wife from outside the house. «That worker placed himself where he shouldn’t have been. He did not have authorization to use the plastic wrapping machine,” Lovato added.
The story of Satnam Singh and Alisha
Alisha gave another version of events, reported today by Republic: «I saw the accident, I begged the owner to take him to hospital but he had to save his farm. He put his farm first and foremost. The owner took our phones to prevent anyone from finding out about the conditions in which we work. Then he put us in the van, taking away our chance to even call for help.” Satnam bled for at least an hour and a half before the ambulance arrived. While the employer was already cleaning the truck to eliminate all traces of blood. Satnam and Sony’s friends tell of «a close-knit couple, if she was ill he stayed at home with her, he preferred to miss a day of work so as not to leave her alone. They had nothing but themselves and he was deeply respectful of his wife.”
The farmhand witness
One of the laborers working with Singh decided to testify about what he saw. Even if he is not in compliance with his residence permit: «I still decided to take the risk of being kicked out of Italy with a deportation order. I owe it to Satnam and his wife.” This is why Flai CGIL is asking for residence permits for reasons of justice. So as to allow those who were present to talk about this tragedy. “Satnam was a good boy, he never hurt anyone”, conclude his friends.
