BRIDE, GROOM, SPY: India's wedding detectives

For some, the first step when young lovers want to get married is not to call a priest or party planner, but a sleuth

NEW DELHI - From an anonymous office in a New Delhi mall, matrimonial detective Bhavna Paliwal runs the rule over prospective husbands and wives - a booming industry in India, where younger generations are increasingly choosing love matches over arranged marriage.

The tradition of partners being carefully selected by the two families remains hugely popular, but in a country where social customs are changing rapidly, more and more couples are making their own matches.

So for some families, the first step when young lovers want to get married is not to call a priest or party planner but a sleuth like Ms Paliwal with high-tech spy tools to investigate the prospective partner.

Sheela, an office worker in New Delhi, said that when her daughter announced she wanted to marry her boyfriend, she immediately hired Ms Paliwal.

"I had a bad marriage," said Sheela, whose name has been changed as her daughter remains unaware her fiance was spied on.

"When my daughter said she's in love, I wanted to support her - but not without proper checks."

Ms Paliwal, 48, who founded her Tejas Detective Agency more than two decades ago, says business is better than ever.

Her team handles around eight cases monthly. In one recent case a client checking her prospective husband - Ms Paliwal discovered a salary discrepancy.