Another girl who was undergoing treatment after being burned in a fire allegedly set after locking the door at the home of a BNP leader in Lakshmipur has died.
Salma Akter Smriti (17), who was critically injured, had been receiving treatment in the ICU of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, where she died on Wednesday night.
The death was confirmed around 1am by Lakshmipur Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration and Finance) Hosain Mohammad Raihan Kazemi.
Smriti was the daughter of businessman Belal Hossain, joint organising secretary of the Bhabaniganj Union BNP under Sadar upazila, and her younger sister Ayesha (7) had earlier died after being burned in the same incident.
Family members and local residents said that on the night of 19 December, Belal Hossain was sleeping at home with his family in the Charmansa area when miscreants allegedly locked the door, poured petrol and set the house on fire, causing the flames to spread rapidly.
During the incident, sleeping child Ayesha Akter was burned to death, while Belal, his elder daughter Smriti and his middle daughter, eighth-grade student Sayma Akter Bithi (14), suffered burn injuries.
Locals rescued the three injured and admitted them to the Sadar Hospital, from where Bithi and Smriti were later sent to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in Dhaka as their condition deteriorated.
Doctors said Smriti had suffered burns on 90 per cent of her body, while Bithi had 2 percent burns, and Bithi was discharged the day after admission but Smriti remained in the ICU until her death.
Following the incident, Belal filed a case at Sadar Model Police Station on Tuesday night against unidentified persons, and police said they recovered three locks from the scene, two locked and one open.
Police, however, said no evidence of petrol being poured and the fire being set was found, and the investigation into the incident is ongoing, said Additional Superintendent of Police Hosain Mohammad Raihan Kazemi.
