Parents in Bengaluru are hiring detectives to keep an eye on children

Parents are concerned their teens could be keeping bad company and getting into undesirable activities

Bengaluru: Families in Bengaluru are roping in private detectives to find out what their children are up to. Parents suspect children in their teen and early youth could be taking drugs, and be sexually active.

The demand for spying on teens is rising because of the widening communication gap in families in which both parents are working, say detective agencies in Bengaluru.

Lynx Security and Detective Services in Indiranagar has seen a 15% annual increase in such requests and has handled six cases this month. Venus Detective Agency and Sleuths India Consultancy, both on M G Road, receive 10 to 15 cases a month. Operating in multiple cities, these agencies say Bengaluru, Mumbai, Surat, and Ahmedabad register the highest number of child monitoring cases.

Parents seek help when they notice sudden changes in their children. Some telltale signs: a drop in academic performance and school or college attendance, not sharing details of who they meet, refusing to let anyone enter their room, spending hours in the bathroom, looking tired, using bad language, asking for more money, and stealing.

Deepak M D, founder, Aim Detective Agency, J P Nagar, shares another red flag: “Children stay away in the name of group study, and don’t return home for two or three days. They don’t respond to parents’ calls.”

Drug abuse

These agencies claim drug abuse is a common finding, even in cases involving 12- and 13-year-olds.
Akriti Khatri, founder of Venus Detective Agency, says, “One family approached us suspecting their son had fallen in love. He was doing drugs. We see this in 90% of the cases. We have taken photos and videos of children doing these things in groups outside their schools and junior colleges. We have also collected sachets (from these spots).”

Lynx Security and Detective Services was recently hired to monitor a junior college student. He was adamant on attending Ed Sheeran’s concert in Bengaluru with his friends. “We found he had gone out with a girl, and was drinking and smoking,” says its managing director Nikhil Giri. 

Deepak claims his agency has found “substance abuse in 99% of child monitoring cases”.

Chasing cash

The desire for "fancy clothes, accessories and cars" — often portrayed in OTT shows — is driving teens to get rich quick, says Naman Jain, managing director, Sleuths India Consultancy. “A college student bought a car within six months of joining a call centre in Bengaluru, but wouldn’t tell his parents where exactly he worked. We discovered he worked in a call centre, scamming people,” he says.  

Jain says teens are turning to online gambling increasingly. Giri concurs and recounts the case of a 17-year-old whose parents suspected him of being with a girl because his spending had increased. “He was actually gambling. He had even pawned family jewellery, and racked up a debt of Rs 4-5 lakh,” he says.

College students pursuing relationships with much older women is coming to light more than before, says Giri. 

Info hacking

Aarthi Sitaraman, founder, Circle Detective Agency, HAL 2nd Stage, has yet to take on a case of child monitoring. She worries that perverts or scheming relatives posing as parents could misuse the evidence they pass on. Three ‘parents’ backed out after she told them she would visit their homes or workplaces to verify their relationship with the child.

What happens after investigation

Some detective agencies have a network of counsellors and rehabilitation centres they direct families to. Metrolife asked Hannah Awayz, child and adolescent counsellor, what parents should do if they find evidence that their child is hiding something. “If it poses a safety risk, address it assertively but with reassurance. ‘I don’t want you to have less fun but I want you to be safe’ should be the approach. But if the evidence is in conflict with your value system, bring it up indirectly, in a relaxed setting, like while playing a sport,” she advises.

Wallet factor

Hiring a detective can cost between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 a day or Rs 35,000 for a week. Packages 
go up to Rs 2.5 lakh. Detectives monitor adolescents in public places such as schools, colleges, pubs, restaurants, and concerts. For minors, some assist parents in installing child-monitoring software on digital devices, and even bugging the child’s room. Advocate Siji Malayil says such parental surveillance is within legal limits. Mostly, upper-middle class and wealthy families seek such investigations.