2 Indians held in Italy for enslaving 33

Rome, July 14

Two Indian nationals have been arrested for allegedly enslaving 33 farm labourers, all from India, in Italy’s Verona province, weeks after the country was shocked by the tragic death of a Sikh farm worker who bled to death.

Finance police also seized assets worth 475,000 euros from the suspects, who own two agricultural sector companies with no employees on the books and are allegedly total tax evaders.

The two alleged gangmasters were arrested on Saturday and are under investigation for crimes, including enslavement and labour exploitation, the Italian news agency said.

The issue of modern forms of slavery in Italy recently came to the fore of media attention following the case of 31-year-old Sikh farm labourer Satnam Singh, who bled to death after being abandoned by his employer after a strawberry wrapping machine severed his arm in Lazio, near Rome, last month.

Singh, who was an Indian national, died due to “copious bleeding”, the ANSA news agency earlier reported.

On June 26, India asked Italy to take prompt action against those responsible for Singh’s death.