The Indian army says one of its junior officers has been sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a man in Kashmir.

A defence ministry spokesman said the officer, Jai Kishan Singh, was trying to rape a woman during an army night raid at Neowshera, sixty kilometres outside Srinagar, three years ago.

The woman's brother was murdered when he tried to intervene.

Human rights groups and Kashmiri separatists have long alleged widespread atrocities by Indian government forces in Kashmir.

The Indians say all such cases are investigated, but correspondents say successful charges are rare.