Russian police are investigating claims a boy beheaded himself with a chainsaw after losing at a computer game.

According to reports Pavel Mateev, 15, went into his yard Monday morning before he “switched on a chainsaw and sawed off his own head.”

Russian media cited local sources saying that he was addicted to a computer game that his single mother had bought for him.

State owned Russian television channel NTV reported: “A teenager from Tomsk region committed suicide after he lost a computer game.”

It is unclear what computer game he was playing, but a female source said Pavel spent hours at his computer and that his “nerves gave in after a game”.

The local office of the Russian Investigative Committee gave no further details on Pavel’s case except to confirm a criminal case had been opened into incitement to suicide.

Russia has seen several so-called "death groups" allegedly incite children and teenagers to take their own lives whilst playing online games.

Read more at The Sun.