Protests as injured Satnam Singh was abandoned and  bled to death —AP

Agencies ROME

Italy’s main trade union confederation said Tuesday that it was joining the prosecution of a farm owner charged with the murder of an Indian migrant worker who bled to death after his arm was cut off by a piece of equipment.

Antonello Lovato, 39, has been accused of abandoning the injured and bleeding Satnam Singh, 31, and failing to call an ambulance. The incident took place in Latina, a largely agricultural province south of Rome, on June 17, 2024. Prosecutors originally considered charging Lovato with manslaughter, but raised it to murder with malice since he was aware the actions could cause death. At the opening of his murder trial on Tuesday, Lovato said that “he lost his head,’” when he saw Singh, who was working in the country illegally, bleeding. “I wasn’t myself. I didn’t want him to die,” he was cited by the news agency ANSA as saying.

Outside the court, dozens of union members, including Sikh workers, demonstrated against the system of exploitative, underpaid migrant labor in Italy’s agricultural sector, called “caporalato”.

Under Italian law, parties recognized by the court as injured in the commission of crime can join the prosecution, question witnesses and possibly win damage awards in the case of conviction.