Parrot 'Cookie' mourns death of 'mom'

HE may not be able to express his anger and sorrow over the recent murder of his owner 39-year-old Leisha Ramnath, a death which has rocked the Penal community where Ramnath lived, but her beloved pet parrot Cookie is clearly in mourning and missing her.

"Since she died, Cookie has not been the same. He is not making noises as he used to. She mind that parrot from baby and that come like she child. They (relatives) wanted to hide him on the date of the funeral. But he came out of the cage, flew high, watched everything, then came down," said a relative.

Ramnath, who lived at Clarke Road, was in an abusive relationship for three years in which the suspect had repeatedly threatened to kill her, her 71-year-old mother Tara and brother Mukesh.

Ramnath's mother, who lost both legs to diabetes and uses a wheelchair, and her (Ramnath) brother live downstairs in the same house. Last week Sunday, at about 8 am, Mukesh, 41, found his sister's body in a room on the top floor of the family’s small wooden house. She had been beaten but an autopsy found that she died not from the licks but from strangulation. A suspect was in police custody yesterday.

"Years ago, Cookie used to talk, just as humans. But he went in the wild for a period and when he came back, he stopped talking. He started making noises as other parrots do but since Leisha died, Cookie has gone silent and barely wants anything to eat." Ramnath was buried after a service at the family’s home on Thursday.

Police revisited the house yesterday and Homicide Bureau Region Three police are investigating.