A woman who in 2022 was filmed dropping her daughter into a brown bear enclosure at Tashkent Zoo has been detained on suspicion of murdering the same child, local media reported Monday.
Zilola Tulyaganova, 34, was taken into custody after the body of her seven‑year‑old daughter, identified in reports as Zarina, was found with knife wounds to the neck at the family home. Relatives told police the girl's grandfather discovered her and called authorities, the reports said.
Video footage from 2022 widely circulated online and on Uzbek television shows a woman holding a small child over a railing at a viewing point at Tashkent Zoo before dropping the girl about 16 feet into a trench inside a brown bear enclosure. Zoo staff ran to the outside of the cage; one keeper is seen picking up the child and carrying her away. The bear, named Zuzu, approached and sniffed the child but did not attack and was quickly secured by zoo employees.
The girl spent more than three weeks in hospital after the incident and later recovered, according to contemporaneous accounts. Authorities initially detained Tulyaganova on suspicion of attempted murder and subjected her to psychiatric evaluations; after those checks she was cleared to resume caring for her son and daughter and formal charges were not pursued at that time, local reports said.
Local television coverage of the latest incident said viewers and neighbors were shocked. Uzbek authorities had not issued an official public statement about the detention as of the published reports. The detention is described as part of an ongoing criminal investigation, and the allegations have not been tested in court.
At the time of the 2022 zoo incident a zoo spokeswoman said it was "completely unclear what her motive was" and that both visitors and staff had tried to stop the woman. The spokeswoman also warned of how the situation could have ended had the bear reacted differently.
The case has drawn renewed attention because of the earlier zoo episode and the fact that Tulyaganova remained free to care for her children after psychiatric assessments three years ago. Uzbek criminal procedure allows detention on suspicion while investigations proceed; suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
The latest reports did not provide further detail on the circumstances surrounding the alleged stabbing, whether a weapon had been recovered, or whether any other family members had been questioned. Further information from prosecutors or police was not immediately available.
The investigation is ongoing and authorities are expected to determine whether formal charges will be filed and, if so, to present evidence to a court. Local press accounts said the community remained stunned by the death of the child and by the contrast between the 2022 incident and developments this week.