A pet parrot helped a grieving husband identify his wife’s killer.
Vijay Sharma had returned home after work to find the bodies of his 45-year-old wife, Neelam, and her pet dog. Both the mongrel and his wife were stabbed to death after the house had been ransacked and the only survivor of the brutal robbery was his wife’s pet parrot, named Hercule.
For days, the parrot never made a sound and Mr. Sharma feared it was in shock after losing its owner.
Police are investigating as they hunt the killer after the attack a week ago, although they think it was someone who knew the family.
Mr. Sharma said, “The police told us the murderer is someone close and known to the family as there was a ‘friendly’ entry into the house.”
The police gave him a list of names, including his own nephew Ashutosh Goswami, he said.
“The parrot always used to be with my wife and I was sure he had witnessed the murder.
“It was unbelievable and to satisfy ourselves whether the police were going in the right direction we called out the names of all the suspects to our parrot.
“Surprisingly he screamed and made unusual noises whenever my nephew’s name came up. He confessed to police.”
The parrot squawked in Hindi: “Usne Maara, usne maara” which translates to “He’s the killer, he’s the killer.”
Earlier, Mr. Sharma said the parrot had started screeching and squawking every time his nephew walked into the house.
Mr Sharma said, “The parrot that was unusually quiet suddenly started shrieking and flapping around the cage. It was clearly distressed about something and only calmed down when Ashutosh left.
“Then when I spoke to other people, every time I mentioned Ashutosh’s name the parrot would start screeching. This made me really suspicious and I decided to call the police.”
Police spokesman Shalabh Mathur said after being alerted the nephew might be a suspect, they had checked his phone records and then hauled him in for questioning, during which he confessed he had carried out the robbery with an accomplice.
Mr Mathur said, “He said that he had gone together with a friend to his uncle’s house with the intent of stealing and have been surprised by his aunt, who they had killed because they were worried she would have identified them.
“They had then robbed the place before fleeing.
“He admitted he had also killed the dog, worried that it could be used in an identity parade against him, but had not thought about killing the parrot which had been silent in its cage.”
