Malaysia plans to "name and shame" sex offenders including paedophiles by publishing their names on the Internet and in newspapers, in a bid to curb assaults, a report said Tuesday.

The move was triggered by the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl whose death last month shocked the nation.

Police chief Musa Hassan told The Star newspaper that Malaysia also plans to establish a registry of the names and photographs of sex offenders, and to exchange lists of convicted offenders with law enforcement agencies worldwide.

"We will let the public know what type of crime the convicted person had committed and to be wary of him if he is in their neighbourhood," he was quoted as saying at a regional police conference in Bangkok.

"We know some may say why punish (offenders) again, but in view of the current trend of children going missing and being sexually assaulted we have to take drastic measures," he said.

The murder of eight-year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, whose battered and emaciated body was found stuffed in a sports bag a month after she disappeared from a market near her home, is still unsolved.

Her death has triggered calls from children's rights groups for harsher sentences for sex offenders.

Musa told the official Bernama news agency that police would also exchange information on paedophiles, rapists, human traffickers and other criminals with other law enforcement agencies.

"We want closer networking with other countries due to the trend in human trafficking," he said.