The four Patna College students accused of molestation were expelled from the hostel on Wednesday.

Satyam Kumar alias Ujjwal, Varun Kumar, Amardeep Kumar and Mritunjay Kumar allegedly molested and abused two girls on the college campus last Friday. The disciplinary committee of the institution headed by principal Rash Bihari Prasad Singh expelled them from the hostel after a meeting.

Besides Singh, senior teachers of the college and the newly appointed head of the Gender Sensitisation Cell, Bharti S. Kumar, attended the meet. All of them recommended strict action against the four students in a bid to send a strong message to troublemakers. The panel also observed that students indulging in such activities in the future would be expelled from the college.

Welcoming the strict action initiated against the accused, Bharti said: “Had the college administrations initiated such strong action earlier, such incidents would not have happened on the campus.”

After molesting the girls out on a morning stroll, the four accused — Satyam, Varun, Amardeep and Mrityunjay — had severely assaulted six boys, including the brother of one of the girls, who had rushed in to help after hearing the victims’ cries.

Satyam is the youngest among the accused — a first-year undergraduate English student. Varun is a second-year undergraduate history student, while Amardeep Kumar is a third-year economics student. Mritunjay is pursuing bachelor in mass communication (BMC). He is a third-year student.

The molested girls — regular morning-walkers at the Patna College grounds — live in a private hostel in the Ramna Road area, around half a kilometre from Patna College. One among them is a Magadh Mahila College student. The other is sitting for competitive exams.

Based on the complaint of the victims, police lodged an FIR on Friday against the four boys. Four days on, they are still at large.

The group of four boys allegedly started bothering the girls by making lewd comments and hurling abuses a week ahead of the incident. The victims usually ignored them. Last Friday morning, the four boys came and started to make lewd comments. They then went a step ahead and tried to grope the girls, upon which they raised an alarm. Hearing the victims’ cries, the brother of the one of the girls and five others rushed in to help them.

Besides the four boys involved in the March 1 molestation incident, the Patna College disciplinary committee recommended strict action against Saurav Kumar — a first-year political science student. He, too, was expelled from the hostel for his involvement in an eve-teasing incident last month.

Prem Kumar Dubey, a first-year student who had occupied two rooms at Jackson hostel by submitting false documents, was also expelled from the hostel.