A PET parrot has helped police nab its owner's killer in the northern Indian city of Agra.

Police were struggling to solve the murder mystery until a key clue was provided by the dead woman's pet parrot, Hercule, The Times of India reported on Thursday.

Neelam Sharma, 45, was found murdered in her home on February 20. Her husband Vijay, editor of a Hindi daily, noticed the parrot screeching every time his nephew Ashutosh visited their house after the murder.

"During discussions too, whenever Ashutosh's name was mentioned the parrot would start screeching. This raised my suspicion and I informed police," Sharma told the newspaper.

Agra police official Shalabh Mathur told the Times that Ashutosh confessed to the crime on interrogation.

He said he had entered the house with an accomplice to steal cash and valuables.

But afraid that his aunt might recognise him, he stabbed her and a pet dog when it started barking.

The Times of India report said the bird, a namesake of Hercule Poirot, the detective in Agatha Christie's novels, had lived up to its name.

Originally published as Pet parrot helps Indian cops crack murder