The controversial video-clip of a naked woman being forced to do ear squats has been viewed nearly 30,000 times in less than 48 hours since it was uploaded onto the malaysiakini website Thursday afternoon.

According to malaysiakini chief executive officer Premesh Chandran, the figures keep rising every minute.

"It is obviously a hot issue. People are extremely concerned about such abuses. If left unchecked, it could happen to anybody," he said.

"Abuses of human rights most often occur in secrecy. But there can be leaks, as in Abu Ghraib and now in Malaysia. The video probably got passed around as some form of perverted entertainment," he added.

The 20 second-long edited clip - minus the explicit footage to protect the identity of the victim - shows the woman, believed to be of Chinese origin, being ordered by a policewoman to perform the squats next to a row of lockers.

The original one-minute-11-second grainy clip began with the policewoman ordering the woman to do the squats, by indicating with her hands that the latter was to hold her ears while doing them.

The unidentified detainee was shown later putting on her clothes while Muslim prayers could be heard in the background.

The incident is said to have been recorded using a mobile phone through what appeared to be a small window.

The scandal was exposed by DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok on Thursday, prompting widespread outrage.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak had also condemned such abuses and called for an immediate investigation.

Najib added that the incident had dealt a 'severe blow' to the country's image.

It happened at PJ HQ

Yesterday, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan told reporters that investigations into the case will be wrapped-up early next week.

The Star today reported that the incident had occurred at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters and the policewoman in the clip was identified as a constable there.

Musa was also quoted as saying that asking detainees to strip naked and perform ear squats are permitted.

This contradicted with Najib's remark yesterday that forcing a person to strip naked was not part of the procedures in police investigations.

He added that there was no reason for a person to be embarrassed in that manner.

The video clip comes in the wake of declining tourist arrivals from China and a recent revelation that Chinese nationals were often the target of profiling by Malaysian authorities.

The prime minister has even ordered Home Minister Azmi Khalid to go to China to convey an apology and clear the air.

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