How to Investigate a Person for Marriage Yourself: 8 Steps for 2027, and When DIY Isn’t Enough

In January 2024, a family court in Rohini annulled a marriage because the husband’s Shaadi.com profile said “Never Married” when he was divorced with a child, and listed an income well above what he actually earned. The Delhi High Court later upheld that decree, treating both lies as fraud under Section 12(1)(c) of the Hindu Marriage Act, according to IndiaLaw’s summary of Sameer Pareek v. Shweta Pareek.

That earlier marriage wasn’t locked in a vault. A first marriage leaves neighbours, relatives and usually a court file. Someone asking the right people would very likely have found it before the pheras.

Most families heading into the 2027 wedding season will do some checking of their own before they ring a detective, and they should. Done properly, it costs little and settles most proposals. Done badly, it misses the obvious or lands you in legal trouble. Here’s how to do it properly, and where to stop.

What does it mean to investigate a person for marriage?

Investigating a person for marriage means testing what a prospective bride or groom and their family have told you (identity, job, income, marital history, family, property and conduct) against sources that don’t depend on them. In practice it’s mostly careful listening, a few polite requests and an hour on government websites.

It’s the old rishta enquiry, written down. What’s changed is that matches now arrive from apps, other cities and Toronto, and the people who know are no longer down the lane.

Where should a family start?

If the match came through a website or app, first make sure the profile itself is genuine. Our seven checks for spotting a fake matrimonial profile cover photos, video calls and employer switchboards. If you’re on the bride’s side, our checklist of what to verify about a prospective groom lists the claims that matter most.

This guide starts once the person is known to be real and you want to know whether the story holds.

How to investigate a person for marriage: an 8-step family plan

Give yourself about three weeks before the roka. Most steps run side by side and need only a phone, a notebook and patience.

1. Write down the claims that made you say yes

Before you check anything, decide what you’re checking. Sit with the biodata and write down the three to five claims that actually influenced your decision: “team lead at an MNC in Noida”, “own flat in Pitampura”, “never married”, “father retired from a PSU”, “doesn’t drink”. Leave out the height and the hobbies. If you’d shrug off a claim being wrong, it doesn’t belong on the list.

It turns a vague unease into questions that have answers.

2. Propose a two-way document exchange

The cleanest check costs nothing and involves no snooping at all: you ask. Suggest that both families share the same set of papers, so nobody feels singled out.

• Credit report. The RBI requires every credit information company to give individuals one free full credit report, including the score, each calendar year. It shows loans and cards in the person’s name and whether they’re paid on time.
• Income proof. Recent salary slips, Form 16 or an income tax return acknowledgement. Business families can share audited accounts or GST returns.
• Education. Many boards and universities now issue certificates into DigiLocker, so a degree can be shown from the app rather than as a photocopy of a photocopy.
• Marital papers. If either person was married before, the divorce decree itself, not a description of it.

A family with nothing to hide usually agrees, perhaps with a grumble. A flat refusal is information. So is “we’ll send it next week”, repeated for a month.

3. Find references who gain nothing either way

Whoever brought the proposal, whether a mausi, a family friend or a paid bureau, wants it to succeed. That doesn’t make them dishonest. It makes them the wrong person to verify it.

Map out who knows the person independently: neighbours, the RWA, a college batchmate, a colleague of a colleague, the gurdwara or temple committee. In Delhi NCR the chain is short. Someone in your building almost certainly knows someone in Mayur Vihar Phase 1 or Sector 50.

“The mediator tells you what the family wants known. The guard at the society gate, the istriwala and the chemist on the corner tell you what everyone already knows. In twenty years I’ve learnt more from them than from any biodata.”

From the field: Gaurav Aggarwal, Founder & Lead Investigator

4. Ask open questions, not leading ones

How you ask decides what you hear. “He doesn’t drink, na?” invites a polite yes. “What’s he like at family functions?” invites a story. Good reference questions are open and slightly boring:

• How long have you known the family?
• What does he or she do these days?
• Has the family always lived here?
• Was there ever talk of a wedding in that house before?

Then stop talking. Don’t mention the proposal unless the reference already knows; colony WhatsApp groups move fast.

5. Visit the home more than once

The formal Sunday visit is a performance on both sides. Find a reason to drop by on an ordinary evening, perhaps with mithai after a festival. Notice the small things. Does the flat match “own house”? Do neighbours greet the family? Is the father who “retired comfortably” still leaving for work at nine?

None of this is proof, but inconsistencies usually show here first.

6. Test the story across meetings

Real histories are consistent without sounding rehearsed. Over three or four conversations, let the person talk about the year they joined their company, why they left the last job, where the family lived before. You aren’t cross-examining anyone, just remembering. If the joining year drifts from 2019 to 2021, write it down.

“People who invent a past remember the headline and forget the footnotes. Ask about the footnotes, gently, and ask again a month later.”

From the field: Gaurav Aggarwal, Founder & Lead Investigator

7. Run the public-record checks

Two government portals do most of the work. The eCourts services portal lets anyone search district court cases by party name. Search the name with the father’s name in every district the family has lived in, and treat a match as a lead, not a verdict. If a company or directorship is claimed, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal shows company and director records.

If property is part of the story, ask for the registry papers and have a property lawyer read them, or arrange professional asset verification when a lot rides on it. For the specific worry that someone was married before, our guide to finding out whether a person was married before explains which records exist and which don’t.

8. Mark every claim verified, contradicted or unverified

Go back to the list from step one. Next to each claim, write one word. Verified means two independent sources agree. Contradicted means a reliable source says otherwise. Unverified means you couldn’t find out either way.

Unverified isn’t the same as false. It shows where your checking ran out, which is the most honest guide to whether you need help.

What should you never do when checking a match yourself?

Families under pressure sometimes reach for shortcuts that are crimes, some sold on WhatsApp by people calling themselves detectives. Each can turn you from the worried party into the accused.

• Don’t pretend to be someone else. Ringing the person’s office as a “bank verification officer” or creating a fake profile to test their loyalty is deception, and depending on what follows it can bring in the cheating provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
• Don’t follow anyone or monitor their online activity. Under Section 78 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a man who repeatedly follows a woman, or monitors her use of the internet or email, commits stalking. Tailing anyone around Gurugram in a borrowed car is a bad idea whoever is involved.
• Don’t buy call records, bank statements or Aadhaar details. Anyone selling them got them illegally.
• Don’t log in to their accounts or install anything on their phone, even if a password was once shared with you.
• Don’t fit a GPS tracker to a vehicle that isn’t yours.

Keep whatever you collect within a small circle and delete it once the decision is made.

Where does a do-it-yourself check stop working?

At the edge of what’s written down.

Question	What you can confirm yourself	Where DIY usually stalls
Job and role	Offer letter, payslips, office visit, company records	Actual role, tenure, reputation and whether they still work there
Income and debts	Shared credit report and income proof	Informal loans, family business debts, cash income
Previous marriage	Direct questions, the decree, eCourts search	Cases in other states, marriages that were never registered
Habits	Several meetings, family functions	Drinking, gambling or temper that shows only away from family
Current relationship	Very little, reliably	Needs discreet, lawful observation over several days
Family property	Registry papers they choose to share	Ownership disputes, loans against the property
Life abroad (NRI)	Passport and visa copies shared willingly	Overseas job, address and marital status

Your own checks confirm documents and records well. They struggle with what people do when nobody from your side is watching.

“The families who call us after doing their own homework are my favourite clients. They’ve already cleared the paperwork, so we can spend every day on the one question they couldn’t answer.”

From the field: Gaurav Aggarwal, Founder & Lead Investigator

When should you hand over to a professional?

Bring someone in when any of these is true:

• A claim on your list is contradicted, and the explanation doesn’t settle it.
• Two or more important claims are still unverified after three weeks.
• The person lives or works in another city, or abroad.
• The family resists a second home visit or the document exchange.
• The dates are suddenly being rushed.

A professional pre marital investigation in Delhi can pick up from your claims sheet, so the field team goes straight to what you couldn’t reach. Our breakdown of how a professional check runs day by day shows where the time goes. A standard Delhi NCR check usually takes 7 to 15 working days.

On cost, as indicative 2027 ranges and case-dependent, a profile and identity check typically runs ?15,000 to ?40,000, and a full local check with field visits ?35,000 to ?75,000. Families with a match working in Sector 62, Sector 137 or Greater Noida West often use our detective agency in Noida.

Legal & ethical note

Alliance Detective Agency works only within Indian law, including the right to privacy recognised under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Information Technology Act 2000, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023. We rely on public records, information people share willingly, discreet enquiries and observation in public places. We never tap phones, install spyware, hack accounts or obtain call records, bank, Aadhaar or telecom data. India has no licensing law for private investigators yet, so read up on what the law allows a private investigator to do before you hire anyone.

Frequently asked questions

How do I investigate a person for marriage without them knowing?

You can search public court and company records and speak quietly to independent references without telling the person. Beyond that, discretion gets difficult, because colonies and offices talk. Many families find an open, two-way document exchange works better than secrecy. If an enquiry genuinely has to stay confidential, a professional team uses neutral reasons for its questions.

How can I check a boy’s or girl’s background before marriage in India?

List the claims that matter, ask both families to exchange credit reports, income proof and certificates, speak to neighbours and colleagues who don’t benefit from the match, visit the family home more than once, and search the eCourts and MCA portals. Then record each claim as verified, contradicted or unverified, and follow up on the gaps.

Is it legal to check someone’s background before marriage?

Yes, when you use lawful methods: documents the person shares, public records and conversations with people who know them. It becomes illegal when it involves impersonation, following or monitoring someone, phone tapping, hacking, or buying private records such as call details, bank statements or Aadhaar data.

Can I ask a prospective match for their CIBIL report?

You can ask, and many couples now exchange credit reports both ways before marriage. Every credit bureau must give individuals one free full report each calendar year, so it costs nothing. You can’t obtain someone else’s report without their consent. They have to download it and choose to share it.

How long does it take to investigate a match yourself?

Allow about three weeks. The document exchange takes a few days, references and home visits need two or three weekends, and consistency in someone’s story only shows over several conversations. Start before the roka date is fixed, so you aren’t deciding under pressure from the calendar.

What questions should I ask neighbours about a prospective match?

Keep them open and ordinary: how long the family has lived there, what the person does now, what they’re like at functions, and whether there was ever talk of an earlier wedding. Avoid yes-or-no questions, don’t announce the proposal, and listen far more than you speak.

When is a DIY check not enough?

When an important claim is contradicted, when key claims stay unverified, when the person lives in another city or abroad, or when the worry is about habits, debts or a current relationship. Those need discreet field work over several days, which a family usually can’t do without being noticed.

Do your homework, then decide

Most proposals pass a careful family enquiry, which is exactly why it’s worth doing: you go into the roka knowing rather than hoping. If a line on your sheet still says unverified when the 2027 dates are being fixed, book a consultation and bring the sheet with you. We’ll tell you plainly whether you need us at all.