‘Maine kanya vadh kar diya hai’: What Radhika Yadav’s father said after killing her – investigation continues | India News

NEW DELHI: Moments after allegedly shooting his daughter four times, Deepak Yadav called his elder brother and said something that would shake their family forever. “Bhai, maine kanya vadh kar diya hai. Mujhe maar do (Brother, I have killed my daughter. Kill me),” Vijay Yadav recalled. “He said the same thing at the police station too – hang me. He didn’t reveal a reason. He said he had lost his mind.”Radhika Yadav, a 25-year-old former tennis player from Gurugram, was shot dead at point-blank range by her father on July 11 at their Sector 57 residence. Her post-mortem confirmed four bullet wounds – three in the back and one in the shoulder. The crime stemmed from disagreements over her tennis coaching sessions and a growing desire to pursue a career outside sports, including in advertising and modelling, her uncle told ANI.Vijay Yadav described Deepak as a devoted father who had invested years of effort and money into Radhika’s tennis career. “He used to take her for training at 5 in the morning and bring her back in the evening. She had stopped going anywhere else. He had worked hard. When everyone in the village had kutcha houses, they had a pucca one,” he told ANI. “There is no bigger punishment than realisation when a person himself is guilty.”The family has denied reports that Radhika owned a tennis academy. According to the Gurugram police, she used to book tennis courts at various locations to train others, something her father objected to. An investigating officer said Deepak was worried about societal judgement and did not want his daughter to earn money by coaching others.A friend of the accused also told police that Deepak had been deeply disturbed by comments people made about him living off his daughter’s earnings. He claimed Deepak told him he had “committed a sin” and couldn’t take the taunts any longer.WhatsApp chats between Radhika and her coach suggest she had been planning to leave home and move abroad, ANI reported. However, police say this angle is not being probed. Inspector Vinod Kumar confirmed there was no link between a music video Radhika had appeared in and the murder. “The accused has repeatedly said that he did not want his daughter to earn through training other players,” he said.The accused has been sent to 14 days’ judicial custody.