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Students said the protest wasn’t about caste or community, but about women’s safety and getting justice for the murdered girl, Sanjali Chanakya.

New Delhi: At least 800 students took part in a march to the district collector’s office in Panchkuian, Agra, Saturday with a single demand — ‘Justice for Sanjali’.

Fifteen-year-old Dalit student Sanjali Chanakya was set on fire using petrol by two unidentified men on a red motorcycle as she walked home from school Tuesday afternoon.

Although the police have not yet managed to make an arrest, the crowd chanted for the unknown culprits to be given the death penalty, and that “justice will not be served until Sanjali’s killers are alive”.

The attack took place on a short stretch of NH39 that connects Asharfi Devi Chidda Singh Inter-College in Naumeel village, which Sanjali attended, to her residential village of Lalau, roughly five kilometres away. Sanjali died of full-thickness burns to over 50 per cent of her body at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital in the wee hours of Thursday.

Also read: 15-year-old Dalit girl burnt alive in Agra had big dreams of becoming an IPS officer

‘It’s about women’s safety, not caste’

The marching students carried posters and candles as they covered the seven-kilometre stretch from the meeting point, Dhanauli, to Panchkuian.

Undergraduate student Somesh Sohni, 21, who was part of the march, told ThePrint: “The protestors want the family to be taken care of. We demand justice for them, and for all students. Tomorrow it could be someone else, and the government must ensure that this never happens again. We want a thorough investigation.”

His sister, Gunjan Sohni, a 23-year-old LLB graduate from the law faculty of Agra University, said: “This is isn’t about caste or community, it’s a fight for women’s safety and justice for Sanjali.”

She added that local police were present at the march, “but they’re doing their work and letting us do ours”.

Manoj Kumar Sonkar, additional superintendent of police (crime) in Agra, was not aware of the protest when contacted by ThePrint. “I’ll have to look into the matter,” he said, adding that he is “working on Sanjali’s case elsewhere”.

Superintendent of police Amit Pathak’s office was also not aware that 800 people were marching near Naripura — his PRO said he was occupied with another matter.

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