Edmund Hewavitarne (1873 – 19 November 1915) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) businessman and reservist. A member of Ceylon Defence Force, he was court-martialed for treason and died in prison, he was given posthumous pardon. He was the younger brother of Anagarika Dharmapala.

Born to the rich Hewavitarne family, his father was Don Carolis Hewavitharana and Mallika Dharmagunawardhana (the daughter of Andiris Perera Dharmagunawardhana) was his mother. His brothers were Anagarika Dharmapala and Charles Alwis Hewavitharana.

Edmund Hewavitarne

During the 1915 riots he was arrested on false pretenses and court-martialed for treason and shop-breaking. Sentenced to penal servitude for life after a three-day trial he was detained in the Welikada Prison and was transferred to the Jaffna Prison, where after five months of imprisonment he died on 19 November of enteric fever, due to lack of medical treatment.

Edmund Hewavitarne

Philip Morrell raised the matter of the death of Hewavitarne in the House of Commons. However, Walter Long, the Secretary of State for the Colonies refused to allow an impartial Inquiry into cases of miscarriage of justice in the courts-martial and into the general administration of martial law during and after the Ceylon disturbances.

Edmund Hewavitarne

References

External links

The Hewawitharana Ancestry

Faculty of Science, University of Colombo

1873 births

1915 deaths

People from British Ceylon

Prisoners and detainees of British Ceylon

Sinhalese businesspeople

Sri Lankan Buddhists

Sri Lankan independence activists

Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees