180 A B C SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2023] 8 S.C.R. suffered great pain, agony, and trauma. At the tender age of 6, a life for which much was in store in the future was terrifyingly destroyed and extinguished. The parents of the prosecutrix suffered an unfathomable loss; a wound for which there is no remedy. 71. Despite such painful realities being part of this case, we cannot hold within law, the prosecution to have undergone all necessary lengths and efforts to take the steps necessary for driving home the guilt of the appellant and that of none else in the crime. 72. There are, in fact, yawning gaps in the chain of circumstances rendering it far from being established- pointing to the guilt of the appellant. 73. As already pointed out, there are several irregularities and illegalities on the part of the agencies examining the case. 74. The questions raised in the instant appeals are answered accordingly. D E F G H 75. Before parting with the matter, we must take note of the manner in which the investigation into this dastardly crime was undertaken. Numerous lapses blot the entire map. We have already pointed out multiple instances which have led to the chain of circumstances remaining broken, the larger picture emerging therefrom being that the person, whomsoever they may have been, remains unpunished to this day. 76. Both the crimes committed against the innocent six-year-old child, are unquestionably, malum in se i.e., evil and wrong on their own, without the prohibition of law making it so. This fact, coupled with the duty upon the investigating authorities not only to protect the citizens of the country, but also ensure fair and proper investigations into crimes affecting the society, as in the present case, casts upon such authorities, in the considered view of this Court, not only legal, but also a moral duty to take all possible steps within the letter of the law to bring the doers of such acts to the book. 77. In the instant case, the reasons why the investigation officers were changed time and again from PW 6 to PW 12 and then to PW 13, is surprising and unexplained. As we have already pointed out, no reason stands given for having decided that there was no need to comply with the provisions of Section 53A, Cr.P.C.; there is unexplained delay in sending the samples collected for analysis; a premises already searched