'Satnam could have been helped but employer fled'

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 20 - A 31-year-old Indian farm labourer who died after his arm was severed by packing machinery this week could have been helped by was instead dumped outside his home at Latina south of Rome by his gangmaster employer who then fled the scene, the two young Italians who were hosting him said Thursday.
    Satnam Singh was left outside the house and his arm was placed in a strawberry picking box beside him. The case has spurred outrage about gangmasters' often brutal treatment of largely migrant farm hands slaving away for a pittance in Italy.
    "We heard his wife's screams who kept calling for help, then we saw a lad who was holding him in his arms and who carried him into the house," said Noemi Grifo and Ilario Pepe, owners of the house.
    "We thought he was helping him, but then he ran away.
    "I ran after him," continued Pepe, "and I saw him get into a van and I asked him what had happened and why he hadn't taken him to hospital.
    "He replied 'he's not on the books as a regular employee'.
    "Satnam could have been helped".
    The owner of the fruit and vegetable picking firm, and Satnam's employer, Antonello Lovato, may face gangmastering and manslaughter charges, Latina police have said. (ANSA).