Convicted killer Satheeswaran Suppiah on 30-day hunger strike determined to ‘take it through to death’ to protest inadequate prison diet

A convicted killer who’s been on a hunger strike for more than a month over his diet says he’s determined to die rather than eat what prison staff are serving him.

A convicted murder has revealed he is willing to die from starvation in prison to protest against an inadequate diet that doesn’t accommodate his religious beliefs.

Sri Lankan-born Hindu Satheeswaran Suppiah, 39, told Brother Martyn Paxton – a former prison chaplain – he was on a hunger strike of more than 30 days.

He is serving a life sentence for the callous stabbing murder of his neighbour in

2014 at Elizabeth.

The convicted killer has served almost nine years of his 20-year non-parole sentence. But there are now fears he won’t see out his sentence.

Brother Paxton said Mr Suppiah made a stunning revelation he was willing to die during a phone call from the Yatala Prison on Wednesday.

“He told me on the telephone that he’s determined to take this one through to death,” he said.

“I believe he’s on his third hunger strike. I know that he was hospitalised as a result of the last strike.”

Brother Paxton said Suppiah was a “strict Hindu vegan”.

“The hunger strike is largely to do with what he considers to be an inappropriate diet,” he said.

“An example he gave me was that he was given a plate of food with two lettuce leaves and a slice of tomato and the rest of the stuff he couldn’t eat.”

While Brother Paxton believed the Department of Corrections take its duty of care seriously, he said he was concerned by Mr Suppiah’s frame of mind.

“I’m definitely concerned … he’s determined to go through to the end,” he said.

“He’s already 30 days in, which is a very serious hunger strike.”

A Department for Corrections spokesman said the department recognised prisoners with special dietary requirements because of their religious or ethnic beliefs.

“DCS at all times endeavours to provide meals to prisoners which will not contravene, but complement, their beliefs,” he said.

He said the department had a standard operating procedure to follow when a prisoner undertakes a hunger strike.

“Which includes intensive oversight from the prison’s High Risk Assessment Team and South Australian Prison Health Service,” he said.

“This includes ongoing multidisciplinary case conferences to ensure there are clear daily plans in place for the management of the prisoner and escalation for further medical or psychiatric intervention if and when required.”

Suppiah is serving a life sentence for fatally disembowelling a fellow Sri Lankan refugee in a “savage” attack in January 2014.

In sentencing, Justice David Lovell said a drunken Suppiah killed former friend Ketheshwaran Sivaperuman while he washed his car after they had fallen out over for reasons not clearly understood by the court.

He said Suppiah had sought to blame others for the killing, including another neighbour who had disarmed Suppiah after Mr Sivaperuman was fatally wounded.

At trial, Suppiah had pleaded not guilty to the murder, insisting he did not kill him and had a knife in his hand only because he “wanted to cut apples”.

They further alleged Suppiah telephoned friends and a community leader after the incident to deny responsibility.

A Supreme Court jury unanimously found Suppiah guilty of murder in May, 2015.

Eight years on and Brother Paxton said Suppiah still maintained he was “wrongfully convicted”.