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 observed that because a long period had lapsed by the time the appeal was decided cannot be a ground to award the punishment which was disproportionate and inadequate.

33. Among the factors to be taken note of are the “defenceless and unprotected state of victim” appropriate in the facts of the present case.

34. The US Supreme Court has also moved in the same direction in Payne v. Tennessee21 while examining the aspect of the “victim impact statement” in a case of capital offence at the time of sentencing. The court considered the aspect from the dissenting judgment in the case of Booth v. Maryland22 which emphasized on “reminding the sentencer that just as the murderer should be considered as an individual, so too the victim is an individual whose death represents a unique loss to society and in particular to his family.” The words of Justice Benjamin Cardozo in Snyder v. Massachusetts23 bring out that “justice, though due to the accused, is due to the accuser also. The concept of fairness must not be strained till it is narrowed to a filament. We are to keep the balance true.” 501 US 808 (1991).