A fast track court in Chennai on Thursday sentenced orthosurgeon Dr Prakash to life imprisonment in a case relating to cyber pornography. Prakash allegedly took obscene pictures of his women patients and then uploaded them on the internet.

FTC Judge R Radha passed the sentence under Section six of the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act and imposed a fine of Rs 1,25,000 on him.

The other three accused -- Saravanan, Vijayan and Asir -- were awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 2,500 each.

Delivering the sentence after convicting Dr Prakash and three of his associates on Wednesday, the court said it could not pardon them as they have committed a white collar offence against women.

Before the sentence was passed, a police constable attached to the Vadapalani police station roughed up the media personnel inside the court hall.

On Wednesday, the court had found Dr Prakash and his associates guilty under Section 506 (part II), 367 and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of Information Technology Act. Dr Prakash was, however, acquitted from two charges under Section 307 (attempt to murder) and 376 (rape) of the IPC. The fifth accused - Nixon - was acquitted from the case.

Dr Prakash was arrested in December 2001 on the charge of taking obscene photos of his women patients through hidden cameras and uploading them on the internet through his US-based brother. The case was investigated by the Vadapalani police and a charge sheet was filed.