The owner of the agricultural company that abandoned a 31-year-old Indian laborer on the road without providing medical attention after his arm was severed by heavy farm machinery, resulting in his death—a tragic event that stunned the nation and its leaders—has been taken into custody by the Italian police.

After a strawberry wrapping machine in Lazio, near Rome, severed Satnam Singh’s arm last month, the ANSA news agency reported that Singh died from “copious bleeding” and was left without support from his employer.

After being airlifted to a hospital in Rome, the Sikh casual farm laborer from Punjab passed away two days later.

According to the report, Singh’s manslaughter death was suspected to have been caused by Antonello Lovato, the alleged gangmaster, who was detained by police on Tuesday.
The Sikh farmer “would in all likelihood have been saved if he had been promptly assisted,” according to a statement released by the prosecution after he suffered a severe hemorrhage and passed away in a Rome hospital.

Gurmukh Singh, the president of the Lazio Indian community, stated, “We were furious. We were waiting for this news.”

He was quoted as saying, “The worst thing (Lovato) did was to leave him outside his home instead of taking him to hospital.”

“While accidents do happen, it is unacceptable to go without medical attention,” he stated.

Outrage over modern forms of slavery and gangmastering, which is common in Italy, particularly in the south, has been sparked by Singh’s death.

An earlier report claimed that Lovato left Singh and his spouse by the side of the road close to their house after loading them into a van. Singh had his amputated arm stored in a fruit crate.