Cautious parents take detective route for their wards safety

Detective agencies claim that they are the only solution to parental concern during the festival

Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA

Friday, September 26, 2008

Navratri is fun time for youngsters. But for many parents, it also means worries, as incidents of crime keep take an upward drive during the season. So this time, parents have thought of a way out: hiring detectives to keep a watch on their wards.The idea is to protect the youngsters from getting into any trouble, and at the same time, not jeopardise their festive fervour. “It may sound strange to say that I have hired the detective agents to keep a watch on my daughters when they are out to enjoy during Navaratri, but I feel it is necessary to make sure that they are safe as I am not able to be with them all the nights,” said Amita Mehta, a 42-year-old professional, who has opted for detective agency to keep a vigil on her daughters, aged 16 and 20. “Sometime, children dont know what they are doing. They get influenced very quickly by their surroundings. Drugs, unprotected sex and bad company gives me sleepless nights, especially during Navratri. My young children love going to garba with their friends and I cant help keeping an eye on them myself. So I have decided to hire a scout this year, just to ensure they are safe,” said Rajul Kriplani, a resident of Alkapuri, who has a 22-year-old daughter and a son of age 23.The detective agencies claim that they are the only solution to the parental concern during this festival. “We simply follow these children to the dance venue and keep reporting their parents about their whereabouts. If we find something unusual we make sure that their parents are aware of,” said Sanjiv Dwivedi, a detective agent at Fatehgunj. Parents provide photographs of their children and even details about their friends to the detectives who charge somewhere between Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 per night for the service.And since after the recent blasts, the demand for detectives have increased. Detective agencies say that the anxiety of the parents has led the business to boom during the festive season and most parents are forced to hire freelance detectives to cater to their needs. “Every year, I get cases of unmarried girls seeking abortions after the festival is over. In that case it is but obvious that parents are worried for their children as they cannot stop their children from going out with their friends for garba, but they can always can keep a check on them,” says Meena Bhatt, a gynecologist in Karelibaug. (Names of parents changed)