Uzbek woman found hanged in South Korea — or was she?

Reports have been circulating on social media that a 26-year-old Uzbek woman who had gone to South Korea for work was found dead after allegedly hanging herself at home. In an effort to clarify the situation, QALAMPIR.UZ contacted the deceased woman’s mother.

Nozima, a native of Syrdarya region and the mother of one child, was found dead in her home. Many social media users claim that she died by suicide. However, severe injuries on Nozima’s body, allegedly caused by physical violence, as well as stitching marks running downward from her throat, have raised even more suspicion about the circumstances of her death.

According to the deceased woman’s mother, she received the news of her daughter’s death on the morning of February 4, 2026. The mother also said she does not believe the reports that her daughter took her own life.

“I no longer trust anyone. Everyone we knew in Korea has sided with them [those who killed her — editor’s note]. The police issued a document on the case only yesterday, on April 10. They did not even provide the letter to our lawyer in Korea, saying that in such cases information is given only to close relatives. That is why I will go to Korea within the next two or three days. After that, everything will become clear,” the deceased woman’s mother said.

According to reports, Nozima had been in regular contact with an Uzbek labor migrant in Korea, a 25-year-old man from Namangan identified as Sh.Sh. Several hours before the incident, an argument reportedly took place between them, after which the woman saw Sh.Sh. out. Later that same day, Nozima called Sh.Sh.’s friend, S.B., while Sh.Sh. was with him. After the phone call, S.B. went to Nozima’s home and found her hanging.

Another suspicious detail is that in a voice message recorded around the time of the woman’s death, sounds suggesting that she was being strangled can allegedly be heard, and one of the men near her can be heard telling Nozima, “Just die.” After the body was brought back to Uzbekistan, an examination was carried out. The findings confirmed the presence of external injuries on the body. However, it remains unclear whether those injuries were sustained before or after her death.

So far, only the results of a medical examination have been provided by the Korean side, while the forensic medical report has not been released. Because the condition of the body was extremely poor, the mother appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Uzbekistan. Through the Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Uzbekistan’s embassy in Korea, the Korean police were informed of the case.

It should be recalled that earlier, the body of 46-year-old Dilafro‘z Cho‘liyeva was found in Turkey’s Balıkesir province and returned to Uzbekistan. Four people were detained on suspicion of involvement in that crime, and the investigation is still ongoing.

Earlier, the body of another Uzbek woman, Durdona Hakimova, was found in a garbage container in Istanbul’s Şişli district by a waste collector.

Later, it was established that another Uzbek woman, Sayyora Ergashaliyeva, had also been dismembered and killed in the same house in Ümraniye where Hakimova was murdered.

In addition, an Uzbek woman in Istanbul was sexually assaulted by an Azerbaijani man.

It was also previously reported that an Uzbek woman who had been listed as missing since 2019 in Istanbul’s Maltepe district was found to have been killed by her husband and discarded as waste.

Moreover, in Bodrum, a 36-year-old Uzbek citizen identified as M.S. was sexually assaulted by two men in a car she had boarded to return home.