Village taunts over reels fuelled father’s rage: ‘Influencer’ barbs made Radhika Yadav delete Instagram, poisoned his mind? | Gurgaon News
GURGAON: The key to the souring of ties between tennis player Radhika Yadav and her father, Deepak, could lie in her deleted Instagram account.According to the police investigation so far, Radhika (25) was looking for a career beyond competitive tennis and saw potential in professional coaching after multiple injuries set her back. She publicised snapshots from her sessions through Reels. These short videos reached tennis enthusiasts but also raised eyebrows at Wazirabad village in the city, which the family belonged to, sources said. Comments from conservative relatives and acquaintances at the village about her social media activity seem to have poisoned Deepak’s mind about Radhika, who he shot dead at their house in Sector 57 last Thursday. “She was trying her hand as a video creator. We are yet to ascertain if Radhika deleted her account due to objections raised by villagers or by pressure from her father after frequent arguments at home. We will soon retrieve her account for the probe,” a police officer said. Having featured in a one-off music video in 2024, Radhika had already explored this interest area, though not as an alternative career.Sources involved in the probe said Deepak saw coaching as a distraction from her tennis career, which he invested heavily in, hoping she would be the next Sania Mirza. But after she started coaching in an academy in Sector 57, and his relatives in Wazirabad took a dig at her “influencer-like behaviour”, Deepak felt insulted, according to the sources. Among comments about Radhika allegedly aimed at Deepak was her uploading social media videos with male players and students, police have learnt after questioning Deepak and others over two days since the murder took place. That is why, according to the investigation, Deepak insisted on Radhika closing the academy she ran near their house and stopping coaching altogether. He’d rather she focused on playing tennis. But Radhika, limited by injury and perhaps having realised her peak years were behind her, looked at coaching as a continuum, not a digression. This became a major point of difference between the two, simmering over months, the sources said. “His relatives and acquaintances in the village told Deepal that when he himself earns around Rs 3 lakh per month, why did he wish to earn even more through his daughter’s social media activities? He saw these as questions raised on her character,” a police officer said.
Killer dad in judicial custody
Deepak was, meanwhile, produced at the local court on Saturday after his one-day police remand ended and sent to 14-day judicial custody. The court directed police to produce him via video conferencing at the next hearing. Police did not seek further remand of Deepak.Police said they had found no evidence of Radhika having an affair and Deepak being incensed because of it. ACP Yashwant told TOI, “There is no evidence to establish that she had an affair or wanted to marry someone from another caste. Her father had temperamental issues and thus, despite spending crores on her career, he shot her dead after she refused to stop coaching.”
What happened on morning of murder?
Police said Deepak was in his room, brooding, while Radhika was in the kitchen. He suddenly took out his gun, walked up to her and shot her from behind, four times, according to the autopsy report. The rest of the family living in the three-storey house initially thought a cooker had exploded. The murder was first discovered by Deepak’s brother Kuldeep, who lives on the ground floor. The family is yet to inform Radhika’s bedridden grandfather, who is partially paralysed and lives on the second floor of the house with his wife and a caretaker.
‘Tennis not the reason’
Ankit Patel, one of Radhika’s coaches who knew her for 11 years, said he had not known of any animosity between her and her father. “She was a hardworking girl. She played in my academy for a brief period of three to four months during the Covid outbreak. Her father always accompanied her to the academy. He would be there, egging her on. He was very involved. Everything seemed very normal between them. She ranked in the top 20 players while playing under-16. It’s shocking her father killed her. There could be more to it than tennis,” he said. Sarvagnya Kilaru (18), a trainee at Patel’s Tennis Vidyalaya in Sector 61, remembered Radhika as “a gentle soul”. “She always encouraged junior players. I was just 11 and she must have been around 18 when we played together at Panchsheel academy in Delhi. She was a very good player but suffered several injuries that affected her career,” Kilaru said.
‘File an FIR so I get death’
After he shot Radhika on Thursday morning, Deepak told his brother Kuldeep, “Bhai mujhse kanya vadh ho gaya hai (I’ve killed my daughter)” The revelation was made by Kuldeep to a TV channel. Kuldeep also said Deepal asked cops to register a strong FIR against him so that he gets capital punishment for his sin.
