A woman who was suspected of fraud died while being detained by police in Langfang, Hebei province, and her family suspects she died of torture, Beijing Times reported on Tuesday.

Liu Weiying, 44, an employee of an insurance company in Langfang, was taken away by police on April 28 and died in an interrogation room 12 hours later. Liu's family said she was healthy and had no congenital diseases and they suspect the police beat Liu to death as they were refused permission to watch video surveillance from the interrogation room or to check Liu’s body.

The police said Liu was diagnosed by a hospital that said her death was caused by sudden cardiac arrest.

The case has been transferred to the city's prosecutors for further investigation.