C. HARI SHANKAR, J.

1. There are no frills in this story. It is an account of human depravity carried to such an unmentionable extreme, that there remains no room for embellishment or embroidery. It has to be told, and told with brutal directness.

2. PW-21 Sunita, who worked as a maid in the houses of the residents of KU-Block, Pitampura, proceeded to work at 3 p.m. on 11th July, 2011, leaving her 8 year old daughter ‘U’- whom the tragic travails of time and the cold constraints of the law compel us to consign to anonymity – playing with her siblings in the park. After a

while, ‘U’ felt thirsty. A water cooler, located on the ground floor of the nearby office building of the North Delhi Power Ltd. (NDPL), used to serve as the oasis for the thirsty children of the locality; ergo, she proceeded towards it, to quench her thirst.

3. She was never seen, alive, thereafter.

4. PW-21 Sunita returned at 4 PM, but found ‘U’ missing from the park. On asking her younger daughter, she was informed that ‘U’ had, some time back, proceeded towards the NDPL office, to quench her thirst,