C. HARI SHANKAR, J.

1. While travelling the rocky terrain of criminal justice-dispensation, the court is, at times, confronted with the necessity to negotiate between the apparently conflicting considerations of ensuring that an offence, ex facie revolting in nature, does not go unpunished, and, at the same time, that the innocent is not subjected to the unbending rigour of the law. This case is one such.

The Facts

2. On 13th December, 2012, 'S' a 7-year-old male child, was admitted in the Ashiyana Boys' Home, Alipur. He remained there till 11th January, 2013. During his sojourn at the Ashiyana Boys' Home, 'S' was, as the evidence has revealed and as is undisputed, sodomised.

3. On 11th January, 2013, 'S' was shifted, by Dr. R.P. Singh, under whose care he was, at the time, to the B.R. Ambedkar Hospital (hereinafter referred to as "the Hospital"), where he was detected to be HIV positive. In view thereof, 'S' was referred, on 15th January, 2013, to Child Survival India (CSI), an NGO dealing with HIV positive patients.

4. While he was under the care of the CSI, 'S', apparently, disclosed the fact of him having been sodomised during his tenure in the Ashiyana Boys' Home. This re