Main content

India鈥檚 Wedding Detectives

The number of families in India employing detectives to spy on future brides and grooms is on the rise. Ed Butler investigates.

The main Hindu wedding season is drawing to a close, and about 10% of India鈥檚 20 million marriages will have been arranged online, through matrimonial websites. But the boom in online match-making may also, it seems, have spawned a separate industry. Thousands of middle class Indians are now turning to private detectives to check that the chosen bride or groom is all they claim to be online.

The investigations range from simple financial checks to honey-traps, where they attempt to check how easily the future spouse can be sexually tempted. For Assignment, Ed Butler is in Delhi to investigate the growing phenomenon of the wedding detective.

(Image: A groom assists his bride at a wedding ceremony in India. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Available now

25 minutes

Last on

Thu 27 Feb 2014 20:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 27 Feb 2014 00:32GMT
  • Thu 27 Feb 2014 04:32GMT
  • Thu 27 Feb 2014 09:06GMT
  • Thu 27 Feb 2014 15:32GMT
  • Thu 27 Feb 2014 20:06GMT

Download this programme

Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes