for imposing a death sentence. If it were the case, then all, or almost all, 67 cases would have culminated in imposition of sentence of death on the accused. In the case of Bantu alias Naresh Giri v. State of Madhya Pradesh,7 where the appellant was accused of raping and murdering a six year old girl, this court noted that though his act was heinous and required condemnation, but it was not rarest of the rare, so as to require the elimination of the appellant from the society. There too, there was nothing on record to indicate criminal antecedents of the appellant or to show that he would be a grave danger to the society. 28. The learned trial court has recorded that the death sentence was awarded on the ground that “the crime was committed in an extremely diabolical manner and that it was cruel, barbaric and revolting.” It has been rightly pointed out by the counsel for the appellant that the trial court merely noticed that the appellant was of young age (23 / 25 years) belonging to a very poor family, but has not considered these as mitigating factors. The High Court has noted that there are no mitigating circumstances at all. We find this observation incorrect. To begin with, it is clear that the appellant had no criminal antecedents, nor was any evidence 7 (2001) 9 SCC 615 Criminal Appeal Nos. 1473-1474 of 2017 Page 27 of 30