Police are searching for a man who shared a rented flat with a Bulgarian woman who was stabbed to death and covered with a bed sheet.

The body of Irena Abadzhieva, 38, was discovered yesterday afternoon in an advanced state of decomposition after police received reports of a foul smell from neighbours and landlord of the Qawra flat, Assistant Commissioner Pierre Calleja told a press conference yesterday.

The woman was last seen on Sunday at around 5 p.m. and preliminary investigations revealed that she might have been sharing her apartment with a foreign man, Mr Calleja said.

Although he did not disclose the nationality or age of the man, police sources told The Sunday Times the man was Turkish.

The body was discovered at around 1 p.m. in Triq it-Turisti, one of the busiest roads in the popular tourist location.

Accompanied by police, the owner unlocked the door of the flat before the woman’s clothed body was found lying on the sofa in the living room, covered in a sheet.

Her body was so badly decomposed that Mr Calleja said it was too early to say what type of “sharp and pointed instrument” had inflicted the wounds or how many there were.

Flanked by Assistant Commissioner Ray Zammit, Superintendent Silvio Valletta and CID Inspectors Chris Pullicino and Geoffrey Cilia, Mr Calleja said there were no signs of forced entry into her rented apartment or any evidence that a struggle took place.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Ms Abadzhieva used to work as a cleaner in an establishment in St Julian’s and that she had rented the flat in November 2010, he said. Mr Calleja could not rule out that the man had already fled the country.

The police informed Ms Abadzhieva’s family members of her death. The post mortem will take place today.

Ms Abadzhieva is the second murder victim of the year.On January 31, a 28-year-old woman was found dead,suffocated in her Xemxija apartment.