The Malaysian police seems to have found a worldwide audience - online.

An Internet search for the phrase 'Malaysia Police' returned some 30 results with stories from various news providers on the controversial video clip depicting a nude woman being forced to do ear squats at a police station.

The scandal, which was exposed by DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok on Thursday, was taken using a mobile phone.

Several articles explored a variety of angles, some of which the local media had feared to tread.

"As well as exposing abuse by uniformed officials, the incident threatened to disturb the country's delicate racial balance," read the report on London-based The Daily Telegraph 's website.

"The unidentified woman could be a Chinese national. The authorities said that 50,000 Chinese visitors had overstayed their visas this year, with many women working as prostitutes. Or she could be an ethnic Chinese Malaysian. Either way, there may be a racial dimension to the alleged incident," it added.

Better pay

Meanwhile, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) commended Malaysian politicians for denouncing the act of abuse shown on the video.

Its report also implied that the Malaysian police gave services that was worth more than their meagre pay.

"Mr Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi) might need to consider a streamlined but better paid, better disciplined police service if he is to prevent a repeat of this sort of incident," it read.

Japanese newspaper Mainichi Daily News on other hand highlighted that a slew of accusations concerning corruption and abuse were detailed in the Royal Police Commission's report earlier this year.

It also quoted the Malaysian Bar Council as saying, "This rare piece of material confirms what Malaysians have heard and believed all these years about the inhumane and degrading treatment of persons in custody,"

Amon the other publications that picked up the story are Taiwan's China Post , Indonesia's Jakarta Post , Pakistan's Daily Times , China's Shanghai Daily , Japan's Japan Today and UK's Independent .

The issue was also being discussed on weblogs originating from Malaysia and elsewhere around the world.