Angry neighbour beats pet owner after parrots ‘whistle’ at his wife

A parrot owner got a sound thrashing from his neighbour who thought he was teasing his wife when he heard a pair of cockatiels whistling.

Cockatiels, also known as weiros and quarrions, are medium-sized parrots known for whistling like humans.

The comedy of errors unfolded at Rukmaiah Layout, Bannerghatta Road, in southern Bengaluru on November 29.

The parrot owner has filed a police complaint.

Shobin Babu, 40, a bank employee, was shocked to the bone when a machete-wielding stranger barged into his house at around 2.30 pm. Babu had opened the door after hearing knocks.

The visitor just ran in and started raining slaps on him. He accused Babu of whistling at his wife and teasing her.

When a clueless Babu protested that he didn’t know his wife and hadn’t whistled at her, the visitor became even angrier. He accused Babu of standing on his balcony and teasing his wife. Then, in a fit of rage, he smashed the machete on Babu’s head.

As Babu started to bleed profusely, the visitor dragged him to the balcony and showed him a building next door.

Babu saw a woman standing at a second-floor door in the building. The visitor said she was his wife and accused Babu of whistling at her whenever she came out of the house in the past week. Babu stood his ground and denied whistling at her. He then told the sceptical visitor that the whistle must have been blown by the cockatiels.

The visitor didn’t believe him and beat him again. He also threatened to kill him if he ever whistled at his wife or teased her. An injured Babu received medical treatment and later filed a complaint with the Hulimavu police.

Police have opened a case of causing hurt with dangerous weapons, house trespass and criminal intimidation against the unidentified person. They plan to question Babu’s neighbour.