UP Girl Fends Off Monkey Attack By Using Virtual Assistant Alexa. Here's How She Did It

A 13-year-old girl with her quick presence of mind successfully defended a 15-month-old's life.

Technology has turned out to be a game-changer for human civilisation. People come up with such innovative ideas while using technology that leaves others amazed. Recently, an instance surfaced in which a minor used her presence of mind to evade a monkey attack. A resident of Uttar Pradesh's Basti, Pankaj Ojha, left the main door of his house open by mistake on Thursday after which a large-sized monkey entered their house. The primate entered the double-storey residence and vandalised the drawing room on the ground floor before climbing up to the kitchen on the first floor to search for food.

Ojha's sister-in-law Nikita (13) and his 15-month-old daughter Vamika were playing in the bedroom next to the kitchen. When they spotted the monkey it started coming towards them. Nikita then showed quick presence of mind and gave a command to Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa to bark like a dog. Fortunately, her intelligence paid off and the monkey became scared of the persistent barks. The monkey then jumped off to a neighbour's roof and then to a tree before vanishing from sight.

Times of India quoted Nikita as saying, "There were no adults around when the monkey walked in. I was scared but determined to prevent an attack. I spotted the Alexa kept above the refrigerator in the kitchen and gave it the command. Since everything was happening so quickly, I was not sure whether the trick would work. Fortunately, it did."

Ojha was proud of Alexa. The TOI quoted him as saying, "Most electronic appliances in my home are synced with Alexa. It's usual for us to give commands and get things done. But for the first time, it saved the two kids in my house from an imminent monkey attack."

Amazon's Take

An Amazon spokesperson told ABP Live, “The incident in Basti is a great example of how quick thinking paired with easy-to-use technology like Alexa can be of assistance around the house. It is very simple to just ask Alexa in English, Hindi or Hinglish for music, information, and in this case the sound of a dog barking. We are committed to making Alexa more useful for customers in India.”