Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday warned the police against harassing the families of militants. The Peoples Democratic Party chief spoke to the media after meeting the sister of a militant in Pulwama, south Kashmir, who said she was beaten up in police custody.

“SHO [the station house officer] treated her very badly,” Mufti said. “They stripped her clothes off. There is a law, he cannot touch any girl. You need to have female police officials. He has beaten up her brother and other family members.” Mufti also appealed to the governor to act against the police, and said that such incidents should not be tolerated. Mufti warned of “dangerous consequences” if the police continued mistreating families of alleged militants.

Inspector General of Police (Jammu) MK Sinha, however, said that the woman Rubina was not arrested or detained, and had only visited her family when they were taken into custody, the Hindustan Times reported.

Mufti’s visit to Pulwama district came a day after four militants were killed there.

The state is currently under president’s rule. A new Assembly is due to be elected after Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the earlier one in November. The state government had fallen in June, when the Bharatiya Janata Party pulled out of an alliance with Mufti’s party.