Did not get help

Farmer let harvest worker bleed to death in Italy

Symbolic image

(Bild: AFP)

A gruesome incident at a farm in Borgo Santa Maria, Italy, has caused horror: An Indian worker had his arm severed in an accident. However, the harvest worker's employer did not care about his helper's life: he simply dumped the badly bleeding injured man in front of his accommodation and left him to his fate.

The farmer's inhumane behavior made headlines in Italy: The harvest worker's legs had been crushed in a terrible accident and one of his arms severed.

Farmer packed severed arm in fruit crate
The wife of the accident victim was also at the scene. "I begged the owner to help us, I begged him on my knees," the wife told "La Repubblica" after the incident. But the farmer didn't bother. He allegedly simply packed the severed arm in a fruit box and drove the accident victim, his wife and the box to his home. "He dropped us off in front of the house and ran away," the wife told the police.

It was not until an hour and a half later that neighbors alerted the emergency services. The seriously injured man was flown by helicopter to hospital, where he died two days later.

Operator claimed to have panicked
The 37-year-old farmer is now being investigated for involuntary manslaughter, failure to render assistance and breaches of safety regulations. He explained his behavior by saying that he had panicked. He had also not allowed the harvest worker to use the machine that was later to be his undoing. 

Minister of Labor: "Act of barbarism"
The dead man himself did not have an official work permit in Italy. His hourly wage is said to have been just four euros. Trade unions have warned of systematic exploitation in the industry with regard to the current case: many people in Italy work for a pittance. The number of illegal workers is estimated at around 230,000 people. Labor Minister Marina Calderone declared that the case was an "act of barbarism that must be prosecuted in all offices".