Probably in a first such verdict in Madhya Pradesh, a court in Bhopal has handed five-year imprisonment to four women students of a private pharmacy college for abetting suicide of another student in a 2013 ragging case. In his order on Friday, Additional Sessions court judge Amit Ranjan also imposed a fine of Rs 8,000 on each of the convicts- Devanshi Sharma, Kirti Gaur, Deepti Solanki and Nidhi Magre, the prosecution said.

"With promising dreams, talented and competent children go to universities, colleges and schools. But end their lives due to the torture of ragging. In such circumstances, the dreams of students along with their parents get shattered," the judge observed.

The court absolved a teacher of the college from charges for want of proof. The prosecution said the convicts mentally and physically tortured Anita Sharma, following which she hanged herself at her home near PNT crossing here on August 6, 2013. The victim had mentioned names of the four students in her suicide note, it said.