A court in Shanghai has sentenced a 27-year-old Internet buff to death for murdering a girl whom he met in a chat room, a report in Beijing said on Monday.

Mo Jifeng, hailing from northeast China's Liaoning province, met Ling Ling, a Shanghai resident, two years ago through the Internet and later in person several times in Shanghai, China's largest city.

Early last year Mo went to Wenzhou, an economically prosperous city in east China's Zhejiang province, to start a business but ended up getting bankrupt.

Hence, Mo decided to rob Ling Ling, whom he believed to be rich.

On January 23, Mo went to Ling's home and strangled her to death and then fled to Zhejiang with her camera, laptop computer, mobile phones and other valuables.