NEW DELHI • In a chilling reminder of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, a 23-year-old woman was kidnapped, gang raped and killed in the northern Indian state of Haryana.

The horrific incident took place in the state's Rohtak district, barely 70km away from the national capital, last Tuesday, but it came to light only last Saturday when her body was found lying in a vacant plot, with her skull in pieces and parts bitten off by stray animals.

Police said yesterday they have arrested two suspects in connection with the brutal killing of the woman, one of whom was a jilted lover.

It was the jilted lover who plotted the crime after the woman spurned his advances.

"We have formed a special investigation team for quick probe of the case," Mr Mohd Akil, additional director-general of Haryana police, told the media.

Doctors said that the woman was first drugged and then gang raped for hours.

The crime took place barely a week after four men were sentenced to death by India's Supreme Court for the brutal and fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old medical student on a bus in Delhi five years ago.

The fifth suspect in the case allegedly committed suicide during the trial, while the sixth one, a juvenile, was released after serving three years in a remand home.

The crime sparked nationwide protests and compelled the Indian government then led by the Congress party to toughen sexual assault law.

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