'Bloody Nanny' accused of beheading child provokes political reaction in Russia - Action News
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WorldCBC IN MOSCOW

'Bloody Nanny' accused of beheading child provokes political reaction in Russia

The gruesome scene at a Moscow Metro station of a nanny brandishing the severed head of a child and uttering "I am a terrorist" is provoking political reactions inside Russia, the CBC's Susan Ormiston writes.

Gulchekhra Bobokulova from Uzbekistan tells court 'Allah ordered me' to do it

Gulchekhra Bobokulova from Uzbekistan appears in a court room in Moscow on March 2, 2016, accused of killing a four-year-old girl and then waving the child's severed head outside a Moscow subway station. ( Associated Press)

A nanny accused of beheading a four-year old girl in her care andthen setting the family's apartment on fire was formally charged with murder of a minortoday in Moscow.

Gulchekhra Bobokulova from Uzbekistan has admitted to the crimes and told a Moscow court this week"Allah ordered me"to do it.

In an online videoposted yesterday, she says: "I took revenge against those who spilled blood."The video was taken after she was arrested andit's not clear to whom she is speaking.

"Putin spilled blood, planes carried out bombings. Why are Muslims being killed?They also want to live."

Russia is supporting Syrian government forces with air strikesin their war against ISIS and al-Qaeda's Nusra Front.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday: "You need to regard anything that such a deranged woman says accordingly."

On Monday, commuters were stunned when a woman appeared at a central Moscow Metro station dressed in a black abaya a loose black cape worn by some Muslim womenand brandishedthe severed head of a child.

Amateur video shows her yelling "Allahuakbar!" Arabic for "God is great"and "I am a terrorist."She made no attempts to resist when police tackled her, finding no explosives, before leadingher away to detention.

Bobokulovahad been working for a Russian family for three years as their nanny. She did not havea legal licence to work in Russia.

Reports in Uzbekistan quote a family friend saying the 38-year-old has suffered from schizophrenia for more than a decade.

Thenanny's father told a Moscow newspaper his daughter was once admitted to a psychiatric hospital for two weeks and that before she leftUzbekistan, she'd been taking medication.

I am against advertising such an inhuman crime.-VadimDenging

The Russian family who employed her said they saw no problems prior to Mondayand that she was "like family"to them.

Her gruesome story has given rise to a trail of dangling suspicionsand anger. She's been dubbed the 'Bloody Nanny' by some mediaand online bloggersand has become a symbol for anti-immigrant voices who say Russia should crack down on unauthorized and undocumented immigrant workers. Estimates suggest more than one million immigrantswork illegally in Russia.

The Communist party of the Russia Federation has drafted a stylized logo of a woman in black holdinga headinside a red circle with a line through it, creating aproposed tool in their campaign to stop illegal immigration.

Main Russian television programs, even those focusing exclusively on crime, did not broadcastan amateur videoshowing the woman at the Metro station,stoking suspicionthat the Kremlin was dictating the story be buriedrather than give rise to comment that Russia's intervention in Syriais inciting repercussions domestically.

Flowers, toys and other items are placed to commemorate the child whose severed head was brandished by a woman outside the Oktyabrskoye Pole Metro station in Moscow on March 1, 2016. (Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

The deputy head of the parliamentary Committee on Information Policy said he was against using the tragedy as a tool for any politickingor even publicizing it.

"I am against advertising such an inhuman crime,"Vadim Denging told the online news site The Daily Beast."The story turned everything inside me upside down. For inhuman criminals like this woman, I would like us to have the death penalty."

People have been droppingflowers all weekat the Metro stationfor the slain child.

Today at Friday prayers,Moscow's Muslims aregathering funds for the family of the child. Thepress service of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims saysthe campaign should be a "symbol of spiritual unity in the face of the family'sgrief and [an incident]thatshocked to the depths of Russian society."

Bobokulova will remain under arrest for two months before sentencing.