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S. Dharmaretnam

Andrew Sabapathipillai Dharmaretnam (died 1952) was a Ceylon Tamil politician and member of the State Council of Ceylon.

Dharmaretnam had been a Vanniyar since the age of 17.^[1] He and his brother Rajaratnam owned large pieces of land in the old Batticaloa District, from VerugaltoPottuvil.^[2] Dharmaretnam's son Puvirajakeerthi (known as Keerthy or Dharmakeerthy) was one of the first Batticaloa Tamils to attend the University of Cambridge.^[2] Dharmaretnam was the paternal grandfather of Taraki Sivaram, a journalist murdered during the Sri Lankan Civil War.^[2][3]

Dharmaretnam was elected to the State Council of Ceylon in September 1938 following the death of S. O. Canagaratnam.^[2][4][5] He represented the Batticaloa South constituency until November 1943 when he resigned due to ill-health.^[2][6]

Dharmaretnam was in an abusive relationship with his wife Alagamma and was known to have had extra-marital affairs.^[1] After slitting his wrist Dharmaretnam went to into the jungle to die.^[1] He didn't die and was found a few days later in a jungle clearing, delirious, his physical and mental health irrecoverably damaged.^[1] Sick and dependent on others, he died seven years later in 1952 at a Colombo hospital.^[1]

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