The policeman who filmed a woman being made to perform squats in the nude while in custody has been suspended, a report said yesterday.

The emergence of the video recording late last year, which showed a naked woman performing squats with a policewoman in uniform looking on, sparked a nationwide furore over the practice.

The constable, in his 30s and with some three years of service, could be sacked and taken to court, stated the Malay-language Mingguan Malaysia newspaper.

"Police will hand the case over to the attorney-general's office for further action after a complete investigation," it quoted a source as saying.

The identity of the suspended policeman could not yet be revealed, said Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.

Angry calls

The woman in the video was initially widely believed to be either a Chinese citizen or ethnic Chinese Malaysian, causing a strain in relations between Malaysia and China and prompting angry calls for an investigation.

The footage, captured on a mobile phone, emerged after allegations by several Chinese women of being profiled and receiving shabby treatment from the police.

But a public inquiry later heard evidence from the alleged victim who identified herself as a local Malay .

The inquiry last month also heard that police routinely make detainees strip and squat in order to expel objects hidden in body cavities.

The findings of the inquiry will be made public today.

Malaysian opposition parties and women's groups have called for an end to the police practice of forcing detainees to perform squats in the nude, saying it was an abuse of power and humiliated women.

The police have defended the nude squats as standard practice to dislodge contraband items such as drugs, but medical experts and women's groups have said the practice is unnecessary and offensive.