Malaysian lawyers, politicians and activists have lambasted police , accusing them of abusing their power in chaining up and marking the bodies of 30 foreign women detained for alleged prostitution.

Police raided a high-end nightclub in northern Penang state late on Thursday and arrested 29 women from China and one from Vietnam, along with eight Malaysian men.

Local media reported police officers went undercover at the club for a week before the raid.

It triggered an outcry after local newspapers carried photos of the women bound up with a long chain and marked with either a tick or an X on their chest and forehead.

"The police branded the detained women as though they are cattle," opposition lawmaker Teresa Kok said in a statement.