A tennis player was shot dead by her father as she cooked. Police reveal shocking reason behind murder

Independent

11-07-2025

An Indian tennis player was shot and killed by her father while she was preparing breakfast at their home in Gurugram, near the capital Delhi, police said on Thursday.
Radhika Yadav, 25, sustained three bullet wounds to her back after Deepak Yadav allegedly fired five rounds at her from his licensed revolver at around 10.30am. She was taken to Asia Maringo Hospital in the city but was declared dead on arrival.
Mr Yadav was sent to one-day police custody by a local court on Friday. Granting the custody, the court called it a 'serious matter", requiring an 'in-depth" probe.
The father, 49, reportedly confessed to the murder, telling police that he had been deeply troubled by taunts from villagers in his native Wazirabad that he was living off his daughter's earnings.
'Some people even questioned my daughter's character. I told my daughter to close her tennis academy, but she refused,' he told police, according to local broadcaster NDTV.
The victim had opened a tennis academy in Gurugram after an injury disrupted her playing career. Police suspected her growing financial independence from running the academy, social media presence, and appearance in a music video had strained family relations. Meanwhile, police has ruled out honor killing as the motive, reported CNN-News18, citing Vinod Kumar, a police officer in Gurugram.
The victim's uncle, Kuldeep Yadav, said he heard gunshots ring out on the floor above his and ran up to find her lying motionless in the kitchen, with the revolver abandoned nearby.
'My son and I immediately took her to the hospital but she was already gone,' he told police. He later filed the police complaint that led to Mr Yadav's arrest.
The victim's mother, Manju Yadav, was home but reportedly told police she had locked herself in a room due to illness and did not witness the incident. She declined to provide a written statement.
Radhika Yadav was a promising tennis player who represented India in various international tournaments and achieved a ranking of 75 in Girls Under-18 category and 53 in Women's Doubles, according to the All India Tennis Association.
After her playing career was disrupted by injury, she coached high-profile pupils and mentored young players at the academy.
Police said Mr Yadav was in custody and a murder case had been filed against him.
'He had asked her several times to shut the tennis academy, but she refused. He could not take it anymore,' police officer Vinod Kumar told The Indian Express.
Neighbours and students described Radhika Yadav as energetic, confident, and well-loved in the local tennis community.
In a separate incident, a 16-year-old girl was shot dead by her father in Pakistan after she refused to delete her TikTok account, police have said.
The teenager, a student of Class 9, was killed on Tuesday in Rawalpindi, near capital Islamabad. Police said the father was upset with her presence on the video-sharing platform and murdered her when she refused to remove it.
The father escaped after the daughter's death, according to Pakistan's Dawn n ewspaper, and the family initially tried to portray the death as a suicide. However, the police later detained him, and the family admitted the father had carried out the killing in the name of 'honour'.