A 34-year-old woman in Uzbekistan has been detained on suspicion of killing her seven-year-old daughter, local media reported on Monday, marking a shocking recurrence after a widely shared 2022 incident in which the same child survived being dropped into a brown bear enclosure.
Authorities detained Zilola Tulyaganova on suspicion of murder after the girl, identified in reports as Zarina, was found with knife wounds to the neck at the family home, according to accounts in Uzbek media. The child's grandfather is reported to have called police after arriving home and discovering her body.
The case has drawn renewed attention because of video footage from 2022 that showed Tulyaganova holding her then-three-year-old daughter over a railing at Tashkent Zoo before dropping her about 16 feet into a trench inside a brown bear pen. The bear, identified as Zuzu, approached and sniffed the child but did not attack. Six zoo staff members entered the enclosure and carried the girl to safety.
Following the 2022 incident, the child was treated in hospital for more than three weeks and was reported to have recovered. Tulyaganova was initially detained on suspicion of attempted murder at that time but, after psychiatric examinations, she was not prosecuted and was later deemed fit to care for her son and daughter, according to earlier media accounts and statements from zoo officials.
A zoo spokeswoman who spoke after the 2022 incident said it was unclear what motivated the woman's actions and described attempts by visitors and staff to stop her. The statement said staff feared for the child's life if the bear had reacted differently.
Local television and news outlets reported shock at the latest development. Reports say authorities have detained Tulyaganova on suspicion of stabbing the girl with a kitchen knife; formal charges and details of any criminal filings have not been published publicly in English-language sources cited by local media.
The matter remains under investigation. Uzbek law enforcement agencies have not released a full public account of the recent incident in English-language dispatches available to international outlets. Court proceedings or any official statements about charges, motive or psychiatric evaluations related to the latest allegation had not been reported at the time of publication.
The 2022 footage and the decision not to pursue criminal charges after psychiatric review drew criticism and raised questions domestically about how the case was handled. The alleged killing, if confirmed through legal proceedings, would provoke fresh scrutiny of previous decisions and of institutional responses to child safety concerns.
Investigators are expected to examine both the circumstances of the killing and the earlier case history as part of the ongoing inquiry. Further updates will depend on statements from Uzbek authorities and developments in any criminal proceedings.