She Had Dreams. Her Father Ended Them with Four Bullets – Inside The Radhika Yadav Tragedy
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
She Had Dreams. Her Father Ended Them with Four Bullets – Inside The Radhika Yadav Tragedy
India News She Had Dreams. Her Father Ended Them with Four Bullets – Inside The Radhika Yadav Tragedy. Her funeral, held at the family’s village in Wazirabad, was attended by over 150 people. Her younger brother lit the funeral pyre, even as mourners struggled to make sense of the killing. According to police, the motive stemmed from ongoing tension between father and daughter over her work training tennis aspirants. Police have ruled out any angle of a love affair or honour killing in the case in the Gurugram case. She was cremated on Friday evening, a day after she was allegedly shot dead at point-blank range by her father. The weapon used, a licensed .32 bore revolver belonging to Deepak Yadav, was recovered from the house. The 25-year-old was remembered by friends and family as a promising athlete who took to coaching after her playing career. She had once dreamed of building a future in Indian tennis and left behind questions aplenty.
Deepak Yadav (L), 49-year old man accused in the murder of her daughter and former tennis player Radhika Yadav (R), being brought to a court, in Gurugram, Friday, July 11, 2025. (PTI Photo/Altered by Times Now)
Former state-level tennis player Radhika Yadav was cremated on Friday evening, a day after she was allegedly shot dead at point-blank range by her father inside their home in Gurugram’s Sushant Lok area, bringing a tragic end to the life of a young woman who had once dreamed of building a future in Indian tennis and leaving behind questions aplenty.
Radhika was shot four times — three bullets hit her in the back and one in the shoulder, her post-mortem report revealed. The weapon used, a licensed .32 bore revolver belonging to Deepak Yadav, was recovered from the house.
Radhika, 25, was remembered by friends and family as a promising athlete who took to coaching after her playing career. Her funeral, held at the family’s village in Wazirabad, was attended by over 150 people. Her younger brother lit the funeral pyre, even as mourners struggled to make sense of the killing.
“There were many questions about the murder. Everyone was surprised how Deepak could have killed his daughter, the one he loved the most,” said a villager present at the cremation.
Deepak Yadav, 49, was arrested on Thursday and confessed to the crime, police said. Investigators also recovered five bullets and a live cartridge from the Gurugram home. He was sent to judicial custody on Saturday after a day’s police remand. According to police, the motive stemmed from ongoing tension between father and daughter over her work training tennis aspirants.
“Her father was not happy with it. On many occasions, he had told her to shut it, but she did not agree. Angered, he shot her,” Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh said.
Radhika, who had earlier been reported to be running a tennis academy, was in fact training students by booking courts at different locations across Gurugram, police clarified on Saturday.
“Radhika did not have her own academy. She used to train aspirants by booking tennis courts at different places. Deepak had asked her several times to stop the training sessions, but she refused. That was the main tussle between the father and daughter,” an investigating officer said.
The sequence of events unfolded on Thursday morning. According to the FIR filed by Radhika’s uncle, Kuldeep Yadav, he heard a loud sound from the first floor and rushed upstairs to find Radhika lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen.
The FIR read that Radhika’s mother Manju Yadav was present on the first floor of the house when the shooting took place, adding Deepak, Manju and daughter Radhika lived on the first floor of the house in Sector 57 while he lived on the ground floor along with his family.
At the time of the killing, only the three were on the first floor. Radhika’s brother Dheeraj was not present, he said. “My son and I rushed her to Asia Maringo Hospital where doctors declared her dead,” Kuldeep Yadav said.
While speculations earlier suggested the killing may have been linked to a music video Radhika had featured in last year, police dismissed that theory. “The video was uploaded in 2023, it has no connection with the murder. The accused has repeatedly said that he did not want his daughter to earn through training,” said Inspector Vinod Kumar of Sector 56 police station.
Police have also ruled out any angle of a love affair or honour killing in the case.
Further, WhatsApp chats accessed by Times Now show that Radhika had confided in her coach about wanting to move abroad to escape the restrictions she faced. She mentioned plans to pursue courses in Dubai or Australia and expressed a desire to live life on her own terms. “Wanna enjoy life, idhar kaafi restrictions hai. Merko nikalna hai idhar se thode time ke liye,” she wrote, adding that her father was opposed to her staying abroad.
Radhika’s brief but determined journey in tennis saw her reach a highest AITA ranking of 35 in the women’s category and 75 in the under-18 division. She represented Haryana at the 2023 National Games and played in qualifying events this year in Indore and Kuala Lumpur, according to the All India Tennis Association (AITA).
“It’s really sad and unfortunate. She always wanted to start an academy to create future players,” said AITA official Anil Dhupar, adding, “It’s shocking to know what has happened.”