Homeless Indian Laborer Attacked, Set Alight In Italy

Rome, 3 Feb. (AKI) - The homeless Indian labourer who was attacked and set alight by youths in an Italian coastal town south of Rome at the weekend was still in a critical condition on Tuesday, but spoke a few words from his hospital bed.From his hospital bed in Rome, Navetej Sing Sidhu said he was glad that three people had been arrested over the savage attack against him on Sunday in the town of Nettuno that left him with 40 percent burns to his body and a fractured skull.Police arrested three local youths aged between 17 and 30 on suspicion of Sidhu's attempted murder for hitting him over the head with a bottle and kicking and punching him before spraying metallic paint in his face, dousing him with petrol and setting him alight.Staff from the Indian Embassy visited Sidhu in hospital where he remains in intensive care. His face was reportedly completely bloated and unrecognisable after the attack.The young men, who were not named in reports, have confessed to a drink and drug fuelled attack but denied it was racially motivated.Unless there are complications in his condition, Sidhu is expected to undergo several plastic surgery operations.The attack has alarmed immigrants, charities and politicians. It occurred at around 4 am on Sunday when the station was unguarded and deserted. The only people who usually sleep there are immigrants.One Indian migrant who has run a successful travel agency in Milan for more than 30 years, told Adnkronos International (AKI) on condition of anonymity that there was an unacceptable racial prejudice against Indians in Italy."This is undeniable," he told AKI. "I have seen nothing of this nature in Spain or Germany."The notion of discrimination is based on a socio-economic concept. It is the poorer people who bear the brunt of discrimination."The migrant, originally from New Delhi, runs an agency that has sent more than 180,000 Italians to India. He said many Indians in Italy were shocked by the weekend crime.The Indian embassy has urged a thorough investigation of the attack against Sidhu who worked as an illegal immigrant labourer in Italy for five years before losing his job four months ago.None of Sidhu's various employers have ever made him legal, leaving him in an extremely vulnerable situation. There are around 2,000 Indian immigrants living in Nettuno and between 25,000 and 30,000 living in the province of Rome.Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno visited Sidhu in hospital and the province of Rome has offered to pay for the victim's family to come from India to see him. He has no relatives in the country.Indian immigrants in Italy not an articulate group. The overwhelming majority are manual workers with little education, working as agricultural and domestic workers.Italy, unlike countries such as the United States, Canada and Great Britain has not adopted immigration policies enabling professional Indians such as doctors and engineers to work here by recognising their qualifications.