New Delhi-- An Indian court on Saturday found a police volunteer guilty of raping and murdering a trainee doctor, a crime that sparked nationwide protests and hospital strikes last year and renewed concerns about a lack of safety for women.

The killing of a 31-year-old doctor while on duty at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata in August once again highlighted the country's long-standing problem of violence against women. The trial is moving quickly through India's notoriously slow legal system, with arguments starting in November.

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

On August 9, police discovered the woman's blood-stained body in the seminar hall of the city's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. A subsequent autopsy found the victim had been strangled and confirmed sexual assault.

Roy was arrested a day after the incident. He has since maintained his innocence and told the court that he was not guilty.

The case was initially investigated by Kolkata police but was later handed over to federal investigators by a court after state officials were accused of mishandling the investigation.

Following the incident, doctors and medical students across India held protests and rallies demanding justice and better safety for them. Thousands of women across the country also took to the streets to protest, taking part in the "Take Back the Night" march to demand justice for the victims. Some protesters called for the death penalty for the perpetrators.

The incident highlighted rising incidents of sexual violence against women in India and prompted India's Supreme Court to set up a national task force to make recommendations on how to tighten security measures in government hospitals.

In India, many crimes against women go unreported due to the stigma of sexual violence and a lack of trust in the police. Women's rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where communities sometimes shame victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social status.

Despite this, the number of rape cases recorded in the country continues to increase. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape in 2022, a 20% increase on 2021.

In 2012, a 23-year-old student was gang-raped and murdered on a bus in New Delhi, triggering massive protests across India. It has inspired lawmakers to order tougher penalties for such crimes and set up fast-track courts to hear rape cases. The government also imposed the death penalty on repeat offenders.

The 2013 revision of the Rape Act also criminalized stalking and voyeurism and lowered the age at which adults can be tried from 18 to 16.