A 25-year-old tennis player was shot dead by her father on July 10, 2025, at their residence in Gurugram, India, following a dispute over her tennis academy. Radhika Yadav was killed by her father Deepak Yadav, 49, who has confessed to the crime and been arrested by police.
The shooting occurred around 10:30 a.m. at the family’s home in Sushant Lok, Sector 57. According to police reports, Deepak Yadav used his licensed .32 bore revolver to fire multiple shots at his daughter while she was in the kitchen. The postmortem report revealed that Radhika received four bullets – three in the back and one in the shoulder.
Kuldeep Yadav, Radhika’s uncle who lived on the ground floor of the same house, filed the complaint with police. He reported hearing a loud explosion and rushing upstairs to find his niece lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. The uncle and his son immediately transported Radhika to Asia Maringo Hospital in Sector 56, where doctors declared her dead.
Police officer Vinod Kumar told The Indian Express that Deepak had been upset because he was being taunted by locals over his daughter’s income from the tennis academy. Kumar indicated that villagers would keep saying the house was running on her money and that he was too dependent on that income. The father had repeatedly asked Radhika to stop working at the academy, but she refused.
Deepak Yadav was produced in court on July 11 and remanded to one-day police custody. Police sought additional time to recover ammunition from his licensed revolver, which they needed to verify from property he owned near Pataudi village. The accused appeared in court wearing a T-shirt and trousers with his head covered by a towel.
Radhika was cremated on July 11, 2025, in the family’s village in Wazirabad. Approximately 150 people attended the funeral, including her grieving family, with her brother Dheeraj lighting the pyre. Mourners expressed surprise at how Deepak could have killed the daughter he reportedly loved most.
According to the International Tennis Federation website, Radhika held a career-high ITF singles ranking of 1,999 in March 2024. She played 36 singles matches and seven doubles matches on the ITF circuit, with her final professional match taking place in March 2024. She had participated in tournaments in Indore and Kuala Lumpur earlier in the year, though these were qualifying events rather than main draw competitions.
Following her competitive career, Radhika established and operated a tennis academy. Police sources indicated that this academy became a source of ongoing conflict between father and daughter. Gurugram police spokesperson Sandeep Singh stated that the father was not happy with the academy and had told her on many occasions to shut it down.
Investigators are also examining whether Radhika’s appearance in a music video contributed to family tensions. She appeared in a romantic music video in 2024 titled “KARWAAN” alongside an independent artist, which was produced by Zeeshan Ahmad and released under the LLF Records label. Police sources suggested this may have triggered additional tensions within the household.
Himaanshika Singh Rajput, a close friend of Radhika and fellow tennis player, has made public statements about the case through social media videos. Rajput alleged that Radhika’s family controlled every aspect of her life and that she faced restrictions including curfews, despite the tennis academy being located just 50 meters from her home. According to Rajput, Radhika’s parents were orthodox and constantly worried about societal perception.
The friend claimed that Radhika was “miserable” in the ten days before her death and had told her family she was ready to live according to their instructions. Rajput described Radhika as “completely broken and had simply given up” in her final days.
In subsequent social media posts, Rajput expressed shock at comments defending the father’s actions, with some users writing phrases supporting Deepak Yadav’s decision. She stated: “I was shocked to see my entire comment section filled with men defending men.” Rajput argued that restrictive parental controls on women’s behavior, clothing choices, and social interactions contribute to larger societal problems.
Police officials noted that Deepak Yadav had rental income from multiple properties and felt financially secure, believing there was no need for his daughter to operate the tennis academy. The accused reportedly had been depressed for 15 days prior to the shooting. Radhika’s mother Manju Yadav was present on the first floor of the house when the incident occurred, according to the FIR.
