Muzaffarpur: The front of the building has no window, no balcony, no opening to shine a light into what went on inside. A government lock hangs on the door of Balika Grih, the shelter home where at least 29 minor girls the state should have cared for were sexually exploited and tortured.

As skeletons continue to tumble out from behind that locked door to spook Bihar and the country, the people who live nearby on Sahu Road in this district headquarters town are left with unanswered questions. How can a shelter home for girls be allowed to run in a building that was open for entry to all as it houses the office of a local newspaper? Why is there no CCTV camera in the shelter home or on the building premises? Why are there narrow lanes from the press connecting to the home? Why did police officers and child welfare commission members who visited the Balika Grih never raise objections on a shelter home in a residential area?

But then, these questions have arisen in hindsight.

"We could have never thought that such dirty things used to take place in the shelter home. It proves that human beings have become animals," says Rakesh Gupta, who lives one building away from the Balika Grih.

Gupta's neighbour Manoj Kumar says that all of the town - around 70km north of Patna - is in shock. "The incident is really disturbing for us."

The neighbours continuously watch the shelter home from their roofs these days. However, no one is ready to speak up against Brajesh Thakur, proprietor of the NGO that ran the Balika Grih who has been arrested as a prime accused.

"Sir, ye bade logo ka mamla hai, humko beech mein mat ghasitye (Sir, don't drag us small people into such big people's affairs)," says the owner of the paan shop on the corner of the road that goes towards the shelter home.

There are others who say they remember things now. "There were late night visitors to the shelter home and some meetings used to take place with influential people in the Prince hotel on Kalyani Chowk. Brajesh Thakur is the owner of that hotel," says a local resident.

Nikita Anand, Brajesh Thakur's daughter, maintains her father is innocent.

"My father has nothing to do with the case and he has been unnecessarily dragged into this matter," says Nikita. "The shelter home was being run with permission of the government."