Bhopal, Jul 23 (Zee News): Five Gwalior-based students accused of clearing their Vyapam pre-medical entrance exam by cheating have made an emotional appeal to President Pranab Mukherjee urging him to either restore their self-esteem or allow them to end their lives, said reports on Thursday.

In their letter to the President, these five utterly harassed and frustrated students - Manish Sharma, Raghvendra Singh, Pankaj Bansal, Amit Chadha and Vikas Gupta - have alleged that though their names have been cleared by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of all charges, they were still being hounded by the college authorities.

These MBBS students have accused the authorities at the Gajra Raja Medical College of making their lives a living hell.

These five students came under scanner in 2013 when they were accused of passing the Pre Medical Test (PMT) through fraudulent means after it was found that their photos or signatures in the admit card failed to match with the college identity card.

They are among 3000-odd people, who have been accused of involvement in the multi-crore rupees scam, which also involves the state’s medical education system.

In their letter, these students have appealed the President to intervene in their case, while also describing how they are still being treated as 'frauds' in their college.

Importantly, Ramendra Singh, a graduate from the same college had committed suicide earlier this year after being repeatedly harassed for being allegedly involved in the multi-crore Vyapam scam despite getting a clean chit by the SIT.

"Right now, we are either failed by our college, or we are suspended. Our future looks bleak. That's why we have written a letter to the President asking for permission to undergo euthanasia," one of them was quoted as saying by media reports.

Vyapam which stands for Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal, is also known as Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board. The scam dates back to 2007, but it came to light at least four years later.

The investigation into the murkier scandal has been hit by a series of mysterious deaths of important accused, whistleblowers and witnesses.

Alleged financial and administrative irregularities were first found by the Madhya Pradesh Local Fund Audit office. These irregularities included unauthorised disposal of application forms worth crores of rupees.

While 2000 people have been arrested, search is on for 700 others. Madhya Pradesh government initially formed SIT for investigation in 2012. Another SIT was constituted for probe by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in November 2014.

The CBI has now taken over the case from the SIT and is now probing the case afresh.