Sony, the wife of Satnam Singh, the 31-year-old Indian laborer who lost an arm in a work accident and later died from his injuries, is desperate. She is 26 years old and arrived in Italy from India three years ago with her husband. Now, after the tragedy that broke out at home, she finds herself having to manage the sudden death of her husband with all the difficulties involved. Supporting her from the beginning were the trade unions, in particular in the figure of Laura Hardeep Kaur, Flai CGIL secretary of Latina and Frosinone. «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 woman told the Republic. «The boss 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.”
«I am Indian, Italy is not a good country»
According to what has been reconstructed so far, Satnam remained with his arm detached for ninety minutes before arriving at the San Camillo hospital in Rome by air ambulance. The company he worked for was Lovato in Via del Passo in Borgo Santa Maria in the province of Latina and he paid the workers 4-5 euros an hour. Now his employer Antonello Lovato, 38, is under investigation for manslaughter, violation of workplace safety regulations and failure to provide aid. “I’m Indian, Italy is not a good country,” added his wife.
The (courageous) story of the witnesses
Satnam and Sony, their friends say, were «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.” One of the laborers who worked with Satnam, despite having no residence permit, decided to testify before the police. «In any case, I decided to take the risk of being kicked out of Italy with a deportation order. I owe it to Satnam and his wife,” he declared. Flai CGIL is now working to ask for residence permits for reasons of justice so as to be able to tell what happened to those who were present.
