A woman follower of the banned Falungong spiritual movement in China has died in police custody.

A police spokesman in the town of Zhangzing in northern Shangdong province told the BBC that the woman, Zhao Jinhua, was undergoing what he called education to persuade her to renounce her support for Falungong.

But he would not confirm claims by a Hong Kong human rights group, Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, and Falungong members in the United States, that she had been tortured.

The centre said the woman's family had seen the body, and said it was covered in bruises.

The Falungong -- which has millions of members, and was banned as a threat to internal stability -- has reported numerous cases of its followers being beaten.