KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysia’s deputy police chief on Wednesday defended the practice of making detainees strip and perform squats, following a public outcry over the alleged mistreatment of a woman who was secretly filmed naked in custody.

Such strip-search procedures are used by authorities in countries like the United States and Australia to ensure suspects aren’t concealing banned objects such as weapons and drugs, said the deputy chief, Musa Hassan.

“It is merely a practice, and this practice is accepted,” Musa said during a public inquiry into the case of a woman who was allegedly forced to disrobe and do squats in front of a female officer in police lockup.

Musa, speaking to a panel of legal experts and politicians appointed by the government to determine if police violated the woman’s rights, said police personnel were constantly reminded to respect the dignity of detainees in accordance with international human rights standards.

The woman was initially believed to be a Chinese national or an ethnic Chinese Malaysian, based on her appearance in the video. But a 22-year-old ethnic Malay who testified at the inquiry Tuesday claimed she was the woman. The panel has barred the media from revealing the woman’s identity for privacy reasons.

The woman claimed the incident occurred in June when she was arrested for alleged drug possession, and that she has since been formally charged but remains free on bail.

Asked how she felt while performing the squats, she said: “ashamed and angry.”

Also Tuesday, Zawati Zalina Ismail, the policewoman in the video, testified that she regularly strips female detainees and forces them perform squats to ensure they aren’t hiding weapons, drugs or other banned objects.

Another policeman claimed one of his colleagues filmed the incident and showed it to him. That officer denied filming the woman Wednesday.

China’s government formally protested the incident after the video was made public by a Malaysian opposition lawmaker who received it from an anonymous source last month. Malaysian Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar sparked outrage when he apparently defended the treatment of the woman.

“If foreigners feel we are cruel, they don’t have to live in Malaysia, they can go back to their own countries,” Noh told reporters.

The comment earned a rebuke from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.