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.

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.

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.