A PRIVATE schoolboy took his own life after Nigerian scammers threatened to share nude Snapchat images.
Dinal De Alwis, 16, was an A* student and had just started sixth form when he disappeared from his family home in October 2022.
The teenager, a keen footballer and rugby player, had been hoping to study economics at Cambridge.
But days after a family holiday to Majorca, he had been contacted via Snapchat from a person thought to be from Nigeria.
Dinal received two pictures of himself and was told they would be sent to "all his online followers" unless he paid the individual £100.
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The "golden boy" student ate dinner with his family as normal on the night of his death, but left the family home in Sutton, south London, at around 2am.
Dinal, who assumed the pictures had already been shared online, then recorded a brief video before taking his own life.
His body was found just over an hour later after he fell to his death, with the tragic incident caught on CCTV.
Dinal's dad Kaushallya told the Daily Mail: "He messaged my wife and I to say he loved us, and he told his two brothers that he loves them, and said they need to 'look after mum and dad'."
An inquest into his death at South London Coroner's Court heard how Dinal had been a pupil at the prestigious £48,000-a-year Whitgift School in Croydon.
Following straight A* grades in his GCSEs, having also been top of the school in English and economics, Dinal attended an open day at Cambridge with the ambition of studying at the university following college.
But his family noticed he seemed out of character days after their trip to Majorca, telling his mum to "just leave me alone".
It subsequently emerged that he had been contacted by a blackmailer, who had sent him two naked photographs at 1am.
The inquest heard they told Dinal: "So you think blocking me can stop me?
"What do you want me to do – you want me to send to all of your followers? Why can't you just pay me? £100?"
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Dinal responded to the message indicating his belief the images had already been shared.
The teen left his home at around 2am before recording himself walking along a street.
In the video, addressed to his parents and siblings, he said he was planning to kill himself.
Cops and the National Crime Agency have since told the family they have been unable to track the blackmailer.
However, they are understood to believe he operates from Nigeria.
Kaushallya told his son's inquest he was "the most caring son" and "didn't show any sort of unhappiness".
He believes Dinal "wanted to avoid any shame" and described his tragic death as "the biggest possible loss".
Kaushallya said he thinks a girl may have taken the photos of his son, before they ended up in the hands of the blackmailer.
But he also explained that he's aware blackmailers will pose online as attractive women and demand naked images before demanding money to refrain from posting them online.
The coroner ruled Dinal's death a suicide.
A spokesperson for Snapchat said: "Any sexual exploitation of young people is abhorrent and our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim in this case.
"We work in multiple ways to detect and prevent this type of abuse and work with police to support investigations.
"We have extra protections for under 18s including a special reporting category if someone is threatening to share sexual content.
"Our Family Centre also allows parents to see who their teens are talking to."
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
