Teen suicide blamed on chatroom romance

A Chinese youth has killed himself after discovering that his online sweetheart, with whom he had engaged in a chatroom romance, was not what she said she was.

According to a Reuters report, the 17 year-old had been using Tencent QQ, China's most popular free instant messaging and chatroom program.

The teenager arranged to meet his online lover, who chatted under the name 'Flying Skirt', on Boxing Day.

After discovering that she was a lot less beautiful than he had imagined, and 10 years older than himself, the despondent chap returned to his home and, despite attempts at consolation by his family, hanged himself on 30 December.

Tencent QQ is said to have over 150 million users in mainland China, and is also used by English speakers as a means of learning and practising Chinese.