All 26 students accused of ragging juniors in the Indian Law Society College in Pune have been expelled after a lengthy investigation.
Sixteen students who were involved in an incident on July 3 have been expelled for the current academic year while 10 others involved in a separate case on July 18 have been expelled for the same period and also debarred from seeking readmission to the college for the next four years, Santosh J Jaybhay, assistant rector of the ILS hostel, said.
Vaijayanti Joshi, principal of the college, had cancelled the admission of all 26 students in July, but the decision was put on hold by the board of trustees pending investigation by a committee.
The committee recorded the statements of all those connected with the incidents, including the hostel wardens concerned, before arriving at a decision.
The incidents had caused a furore in Pune in July, with student unions and citizens' groups taking out morchas and mounting a signature campaign in favour of the victims. Student unions also appreciated the principal's decision.
Nine victims of the ragging incidents were given police bodyguards after one of them, Ganesh Rakh, was attacked by two unidentified persons. Rakh suffered only minor injuries.
In the July 3 incident, some senior students of the college walked into a classroom of juniors and forced them to do some unpleasant things against their wishes. Some female students were also involved in this incident.
In the other incident which occurred in the night of July 18, some students called their juniors into a hostel room and asked them many indecent questions.
