A police volunteer convicted of raping and murdering a doctor in training in India

An Indian court on Saturday found a police volunteer guilty of raping and murdering a trainee doctor, a case that sparked nationwide protests and hospital strikes last year amid renewed concern over the lack of safety for women.

The killing of the 31-year-old doctor while on duty at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata last August once again highlighted the ongoing issue of violence against women in the country. The trial in the case was quickly followed by India’s notoriously lax legal system and arguments began in November.

Judge Anirban Das said the sentence for Sanjay Roy, 33, will be announced on Monday and could range from life in prison to the death penalty.

The police found the bloody body of a woman in the seminar hall of the city’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. An autopsy later found the victim strangled and confirmed sexual assault.

Roy was arrested a day after committing the crime. He has always maintained his innocence and told the court that he is innocent.

The case was being investigated by Kolkata police but later the court handed over the investigation to government investigators after government officials were accused of mishandling the investigation.

After the murder, doctors and medical students across India held protests and rallies demanding justice and better protection for them. Thousands of women across the country also protested in the streets, demanding justice for the victim as they participated in “Reclaim The Night” marches. Some protesters want the perpetrator of the crime to be given the death penalty.

The crime highlighted the rise of violence against women in India and prompted the Supreme Court of India to set up a national task force to suggest ways to improve safety measures in government hospitals.

Many crimes against women go unreported in India because of the stigma attached to sexual violence, and distrust of the police. Women’s rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where society sometimes shames victims of sexual abuse and families worry about their status in society.

However, the number of recorded rape cases in the country has increased. In 2022, police recorded 31,516 rape reports — a 20 percent jump from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

In 2012, the rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus sparked massive protests across India. It has encouraged lawmakers to issue harsher penalties for such crimes, as well as the creation of fast-track courts that deal with rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders.

The rape law that was amended in 2013 also criminalized stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.