An Indian court has sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison after finding him guilty in the rape and killing of a trainee doctor last year.

An Indian court handed down a life sentence on Monday to a police volunteer convicted of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata, rejecting demands for the death penalty saying it was not a rare crime.

Sanjay Roy, a police volunteer, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor attacked while on duty in Kolkata — a crime that sparked widespread protests across India.

The police had sought the death penalty in a horrific but familiar crime. Its handling by the local authorities had outraged the nation.

A court in India's Kolkata has sentenced the man convicted of raping and murdering a junior doctor to life imprisonment. The Indian court's judgement came as a disappointment to the victim's parents.

Kolkata rape and murder case 1990: Almost two decades ago, Dhananjoy Chatterjee hit the headlines after a court convicted him for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl on March 5, 1990. After 14 years of the heinous crime, Chatterjee was executed in Kolkata on August 14, 2004.

A court in India has sentenced a man to life in prison for the rape and murder of a junior doctor, in a case that sparked nationwide outrage and protests. The judge rejected demands for the death penalty but said that Sanjay Roy, a hospital volunteer in Kolkata city who was convicted over the weekend, would spend the rest of his life in jail.