Pet parrot helps police to identify killer; accused in Neelam Sharma murder case gets life imprisonment

AGRA: The accused was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case in which pet parrot provided the key clue. The accused Ashutosh and Ronnie have been sentenced in the murder case of Neelam Sharma, wife of Vijay Sharma, the chief editor of a leading newspaper in Agra. Neelam was killed on February 10, 2014 in her own home. A fine of Rs 72,000 was also awarded to the accused.

A robbery took place at Neelam's house after the murder, but the police had no clue about the accused. But the screeching of Hercule, the pet parrot, provided a key clue in the case. On the day of the incident, Neelam and the pet dog were the only ones in the house. Vijay Sharma and his children Rajesh and Nivedita had gone to attend a wedding in Firozabad.

The trio returned home late at night. Neelam and pet dog were found dead. Later they informed the police. At the same time, their pet parrot, Hercule, did not eat or drink anything after the incident. It also stopped screeching. Noticing this, Vijay Sharma suspected that the parrot might have seen the murder.

Then when the names of the suspects related to the murder were told to the parrot one by one, the parrot started screaming 'Ashu Ashu' after hearing Ashutosh's name. Following this, Vijay Sharma informed the police and requested to interrogate Ashutosh. In the subsequent interrogation, Ashutosh confessed the crime. Neelam Sharma caught them while stealing, so he stabbed her 14 times with a knife. The dog kept barking and he stabbed it 9 times to death. The parrot had seen all this.

Nivedita, daughter of Neelam Sharma, says that Ashutosh used to stay in the house and was a frequent visitor. Vijay Sharma had given Ashutosh Rs 80,000 as he is doing an MBA course. The daughter stated that Ashutosh knew where the gold and money were kept in the house and then planned the murder.

Although the parrot was mentioned throughout the case, it was not produced in evidence as there was no such provision in the Evidence Act. Nivedita said that the parrot died six months after the incident.