Three people succumbed to burn injuries at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka on Monday and Tuesday, days after they were injured when angry locals set fire to the house of the prime suspect of raping and murdering a teenage girl in a village under Pabna Sadar Upazila on June 4.

The deceased, Sumon Sheikh, Saiful Islam Sabbir and Sapu, all aged between 35 and 40, are neighbours of both the victim and the prime accused.

Of them, Sumon and Saiful died on Tuesday, and Sapu died on Monday afternoon, the police said, quoting officials of the institute.

The police and local residents said that the body of the Class IX girl student was recovered from a sack in the Padma River at a location under Sadar Upazila in Pabna on June 3.

Her body was buried after a post-mortem examination on June 4.

After the burial, agitated locals set fire to the house of the prime accused in the absence of any family members. Several neighbours were injured when a gas cylinder exploded inside the house, according to police and local residents.

The injured were rescued and taken to Pabna General Hospital. Five of them were later transferred to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka.

Three of them died on Monday and Tuesday, while two others are still undergoing treatment there, Pabna Sadar police station officer-in-charge Tariqul Islam said.

The police said that after recovering the girl’s body, they arrested three people, including the prime accused and the girl’s boyfriend, Naim. The detainees later confessed to raping and killing the girl.

OC Tariqul said that additional police personnel had been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incidents.