PENANG (Malaysia): The naked woman who was found dead on the third floor staircase of a budget hotel in Penang Road here on Wednesday was a murder victim.

A post mortem by forensic pathologist Datuk Dr Bhupinder Singh showed that the unidentified woman, in her 40s, could have been suffocated with a pillow.

Her death has led police to re-open a similar case on Feb 24 last year where a naked Indonesian woman was found dead on the fourth floor corridor of the same hotel.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said in the latest case, there were abrasions on the woman's arms and back.

The woman had been dead for at least three days when her body was discovered by a 67-year-old hotel security guard at about 8.30pm on Wednesday.

"We are now checking the identities of the third and fourth floor occupants over the past few days," he said.

On Feb 24 last year, a 29-year-old Indonesian woman was found dead. A relative told police the woman was suffering from acute asthma and the case was then classified as sudden death.

ACP Azam said the investigating officer would be re-looking the file and post mortem report to see if both cases could be related.

"The circumstances are just too similar to be a coincidence," he added.

"The woman in the latest case was about 152.4cm tall with long hair. Anyone with missing family members fitting this description can identify the body at the Penang Hospital mortuary," he said.

ACP Azam urged those with information on the two cases to call the Rakan COP hotline (04-2691999) or the district police operations room (04-2282222).