In Madhya Pradesh, where weddings are often celebrated with opulence and tradition, a new trend is quietly taking root, one that blends suspicion and surveillance. Families are increasingly hiring private detectives to investigate the “character” of prospective brides before marriage.
Sparked by sensational cases like the honeymoon murder, detective agencies across the state are witnessing a surge in pre-wedding inquiries – most of them targeted towards young women.
From social media activity and past relationships to behaviour, friend circles, even criminal records – everything is being scrutinized before the wedding rituals begin.
“After the Sonam Raghuvanshi case, we have seen a sharp rise in requests to investigate girls. People want to know about their character, if they have boyfriends, criminal backgrounds… basically, everything,” said Rajesh Pandey, who heads a local detective agency.
“We have received 18 such cases recently, and most of them want only this kind of targeted verification,” he said.
Previously, investigations of this sort were mostly sought to uncover extra-marital affairs or financial fraud.
But now, agencies say the focus has shifted to deeply personal aspects of a woman’s life – college friendships, online behaviour, call records, even the criminal record of ex-boyfriends.
“Earlier, people would hire detectives only in rare cases. Now we are seeing 70 to 80 inquiries every month,” said Subhash Chaudhary, Zonal Head of Action Detective Services. “For some families, a detective is now more important than a pandit. Love marriages and online relationships have led to a new fear – no one wants to take a chance anymore,” he added.
Detective agencies are even offering structured pre-marriage verification packages, ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
These include surveillance, digital forensics and background checks. One agency’s checklist includes dressing style, voice tone, friends group, daily schedule, and hours spent online.
Behind the surge lies fear-fuelled by crimes where women were accused of killing their husbands post-marriage, like the infamous case of Muskan Rastogi — who, along with her boyfrien allegedly killed her husband, Saurabh Rajput. Some allegedly did it on their honeymoon — like Indore-based Sonam Raghuvanshi, who allegedly conspired with her boyfriend to kill husband Raja Raghuvanshi. Others allegedly planned murders and hid bodies in suitcases and drums.
Psychologists are sounding the alarm.
“People are adopting crime-show thinking and applying it to real life. Watching too many crime serials is blurring their perception of trust,” said Dr Satyakant Trivedi, a Bhopal-based clinical psychologist. “Marriages are supposed to start with trust. Now they start with doubt,” he added.
