Istanbul - (dpa) - A court in Istanbul has sentenced a man to life in prison for the brutal murder of a woman with a samurai sword last November.

The official Anadolu news agency reported that the perpetrator was convicted of premeditated murder with "brutal intent and torture".

The life sentences are the harshest possible since Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002, as it offers no chance of parole.

Security camera footage showed that on November 9, Goktug Boz attacked 28-year-old architect Basak Cengiz with a samurai sword while she was walking in the street in Istanbul's Atasehir district.

Cengiz later died in hospital.

Anatolia said her mother burst into tears when the judge read the verdict on Friday.

According to local media reports, the attacker and the victim did not know each other.

Violence against women remains a serious problem in Turkey.