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

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.

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.

An India police volunteer was convicted on Saturday of the rape and murder of a junior doctor at a hospital in the eastern city Kolkata, local media reported, in a speedy trial of a crime that sparked national outrage over the lack of safety for women.

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.

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.

Judge says case did not deserve the death penalty as it was not “the rarest of the rare cases"; victim's family says will continue to fight for justice.

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.

An Indian court sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison for the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata, rejecting the death penalty demand. The case has sparked national outrage, with some suspecting a larger conspiracy.