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.

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.

The BJP on Monday criticised the sentence of life imprisonment for the convict in the RG Kar rape-murder case by a Kolkata court as a "travesty of justice", and said justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done.

An Indian court has sentenced the man convicted of raping and murdering a female doctor at a Kolkata hospital to life in prison.

The rape and murder shocked the nation, igniting protests from junior doctors in West Bengal and demands for justice and improved safety measures in government hospitals.

Sanjay Roy was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Kolkata court for the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Medical College. Roy claimed innocence,

In response to the Sealdah Court’s life imprisonment verdict for Sanjay Roy in the RG Kar rape-murder case, junior doctors in Kolkata staged a protest outside the court. They expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence,