Police in Odisha's Balasore were confronted with an extraordinary situation when a man filed a complaint against his neighbour for playing loud music during a wedding, stating that it killed 63 chickens at his broiler farm.
In a complaint lodged at Nilagiri police station, poultry farm owner Ranjit Parida of Kandagaradi village reported that his chickens died of probable heart attacks caused by the deafening music played by the DJ at his neighbour Ramachandra Parida's wedding procession.
The wedding procession with a DJ band passed in front of Ranjit's farm at 11.30 p.m. on Sunday, according to Ranjit. As the DJ approached his farm, the chickens began to act strangely, with some even leaping and hissing.
Despite Ranjit's repeated requests to the DJ to turn down the volume, the purportedly "ear-splitting music" continued to play, resulting in the death of 63 birds.
After the chickens collapsed, the poultry farm owner attempted to resuscitate them, but it proved futile.
He then sought the advice of a local veterinarian, who determined that the tremendous noise had caused the birds to go into shock, killing them.
Ranjit, a 22-year-old engineering graduate who was unable to seek jobs, began his broiler farm in 2019 after taking a loan of Rs.2 lakh from a cooperative bank in Nilagiri.
He initially attempted to settle the situation by requesting compensation from his neighbour Ramachandra, but the latter refused. Ranjit was left with no choice but to file a complaint against Ramachandra at the Nilagiri police station, stating that the birds died of shock as a result of the loud music and fireworks.
According to Balasore Police SP Sudhanshu Mishra, the Nilagiri police station has received a complaint in this regard. "The charges were being investigated." However, all parties reached an amicable resolution at the police station," he continued.
Meanwhile, Ramachandra Parida dismissed the charges as nonsense, stating, "When lakhs of chickens are carried on the road every day amid blaring horns, how is it conceivable that the birds in his farm perished as a result of DJ music? However, once he approached me and expressed his discomfort with the loud noise, we reduced the volume."
