Radhika Yadav’s 51-year-old father was distressed over the tennis player running her own academy.
Radhika Yadav, a 25-year-old state-level tennis player, was shot dead allegedly by her father at their residence in Gurgaon on Thursday.
The victim, who ran her own tennis academy, was shot three times in the back while she was cooking in the kitchen of their three-storey home in Block-G of Sushant Lok II around 10.30am, according to the police. She died instantly from injuries to her vital organs.
The accused, Deepak Yadav, has been arrested and his licensed revolver seized.
A preliminary probe into the incident revealed that Radhika Yadav’s 51-year-old father was distressed over the tennis player running her own academy.
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According to the police, Deepak Yadav was angered by the taunts from villagers and peers in their native Wazirabad. An investigator privy to the case details told Hindustan Times that many allegedly mocked him for living off his daughter’s income from her tennis academy.
“He asked her repeatedly to shut the tennis academy,” said assistant commissioner of police (Sadar) Yashwant Yadav. “But she refused. Arguments had taken place earlier as well. He finally shot her dead over the same dispute.”
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According to police, the father claimed he had been battling depression for the past 15 days due to social criticism about his daughter’s career and earnings. In his confession, he reportedly said he could no longer bear the humiliation which had hurt his ‘pride’, as mentioned in the FIR, which was accessed by Hindustan Times.
One investigator also pointed out that the recent altercation between the father and daughter may have been sparked by a video Radhika posted on social media, which Deepak Yadav disapproved of. The police is also looking into other motives.
Who was Radhika Yadav?
Radhika, a bright and promising athlete, was a graduate from Scottish High International School.
She had cleared her Class 12 exams in commerce in 2018 and had taken to tennis early in her school years.
Radhika ranked 113th as a doubles tennis player in the International Tennis Federation (ITF). She also ranked within the top 200 in the ITF doubles.
She had recently suffered a shoulder injury and was undergoing physiotherapy, but that hadn’t deterred her from running her academy or continuing to inspire young players.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
