Tennis Academy Dispute & Instagram Reel Sparked Radhika Yadav’s Murder by Father

Tennis Academy Dispute & Instagram Reel: Radhika Yadav, a 25-year-old national level tennis player, was shot dead by her father at their residence in Gurugram on Thursday. She was killed after months of tension in the family over her financial independence, Instagram reels and a music video in which she appeared.

According to the police, Deepak Yadav, 49, confessed to the murder during questioning. He told the police that he was teased by villagers in Wazirabad, his native place, for depending on his daughter’s earnings and had asked her several times to shut down the tennis academy she ran.

Deepak used his licensed revolver to fire three shots while Radhika was cooking. The murder has sparked a nationwide outrage over parental control, social pressure and violence against women athletes. Gurugram Police have arrested Deepak and the investigation is on. Radhika was ranked 113 in ITF women’s doubles rankings.

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Deepak confessed that he shot Radhika three times in the back while she was preparing food in the kitchen around 10:30 am. Her uncle, Kuldeep Yadav, who lives on the ground floor of the same building, heard the shots and rushed upstairs to find Radhika lying on the kitchen floor with the revolver in the adjacent drawing room.

She was taken by car to Asia Maringo Hospital in Sector 56, where doctors pronounced her dead.

Deepak, a former bank employee, had been harbouring a growing resentment towards his daughter’s rising stature and independence especially after she started her own tennis academy in Sector 57.

While financial independence and defiance over running the academy were the persistent points of conflict, police sources said Radhika’s appearance in a music video may have further added to the tension at home.

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The video in question is a song titled Karwaan by independent artist INAAM, produced by Zeeshan Ahmad and released under the LLF Records label a year ago. The video features Radhika alongside INAAM in several scenes. Sources close to the investigation told that Deepak had objected to the video and had asked her to delete it from her social media accounts.

“He wanted her to shut down the academy, but she refused. He finally shot her dead over the same dispute,” assistant commissioner of police Yashwant Yadav said.

Her mother, Manju Yadav, as per the FIR, refused to give her statement to the police saying she was suffering from fever and had not seen anything.

Radhika was a talented athlete. A Scottish High International School graduate, she had cleared her Class 12 commerce in 2018 and had taken up tennis in her school days. She had recently suffered a shoulder injury and was undergoing physiotherapy but that hadn’t stopped her from running the academy or motivating young players.

Police said Radhika was full of life and would often shoot reels dancing with her father after winning trophies.

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