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.

In convicting Sanjay Roy, Judge Anirban Das turned down a plea by prosecutors for the death penalty, saying he did not consider it a rare crime that might warrant capital punishment. He sentenced Roy on Monday to life in jail on counts of rape and murder.

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

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 on Monday sentenced a police volunteer to life in prison after finding him guilty in the rape and killing of a trainee doctor last year, a crime that sparked nationwide protests over inadequate safety for women and led to a speedy trial in the country’s slow-moving justice system.

Protests erupted in West Bengal last August after the body of a trainee doctor was found with multiple injuries in a hospital lecture hall.

A court in India has given the life sentence to a man for the rape and murder of a junior doctor, a crime that sparked nationwide outrage and protests. The judge rejected demands for the death penalty but said that Sanjoy Roy,

The family of the doctor broke into tears, saying they were "shocked" at the sentence and had hoped her murderer would be sentenced to death.