When contacted by the Star Online, MCMC strategic communications director Sheikh Raffie Abd Rahman confirmed that the commission had received reports about the photos and said, “The postings are offensive and done in bad taste. They are a bad reflection of the individuals who posted them.”

He advised social media users who chanced upon the images not to share it with others or forward the photos but to contact the MCMC consumer complaints bureau instead.

The Star Online said that the images were posted following a report in the Jakarta Post of an 18-year old factory worker who was smothered with a pillow and gang-raped.

Three suspects, aged 15 to 24, have been detained by Indonesian police in connection with the crime after the girl’s body was found in her room at the factory boarding house in Kosambi, Tangerang, Banten province, on May 13.

A police investigator was also quoted in the article as saying that one suspect rammed the handle of a wooden hoe into the woman’s vagina, and kicked it deeper while she was still alive.

By May 22, several Malaysian Facebook users had already begun to parody the rape, posting photos of a man lying topless on the ground with a dustpan between his legs. This photo was captioned: Mangsa rogol terbaru,sebelum ne guna cangkul,tp yang ne menggunakan penyodok sampah.tragis.PDRM action (The latest rape victim, previously done with a hoe, but now with a dustpan. Tragic. PDRM action).

Another photo, that of a man lying topless in bed with a guitar between his legs was also uploaded.

Sheik Raffie of MCMC said his officers were serious about investigating the matter and would take action against those guilty of circulating the images online.