Haryana: Father kills tennis-playing daughter because she was “too independent”

In Gurugram, Radhika Yadav, 25, was murdered by her father with five gunshots. The man confessed, saying that his fellow villagers mocked him for living off his daughter, a talented tennis player who ran her own academy. A tragedy that puts the spotlight back on honour killings in India.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - A young national tennis player was killed by her father because she was “too independent”. The tragedy took place yesterday in Gurugram, in the state of Haryana, where Radhika Yadav, 25, was shot dead by her father Deepak Yadav, 49, a former bank employee.

According to local police, the man confessed to the crime during initial questioning, during which he said he was driven to act because of constant comments and insults from other villagers, who accused him of living off Radhika and questioned his reputation because of his daughter's growing visibility.

‘When I went to the village to buy milk, people mocked me, saying that I was living off my daughter's money. This bothered me a lot. Some even questioned her character. I asked her to close her tennis academy, but she refused,’ the man said in his statement to the police.

According to the reconstruction, Radhika was in the kitchen preparing breakfast when her father took his legally owned .32 calibre gun and shot her five times. The young woman was rushed to Asia Maringo Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The body was found by the girl's uncle, Kuldeep Yadav, the killer's brother, who lives on the lower floor of the same house. ‘I heard a gunshot. When I went upstairs, I found my niece lying on the floor in the kitchen. The revolver was on the living room floor,’ he told the police. He was the one who reported the incident.

Radhika was a promising Indian athlete. After suffering a shoulder injury in a recent match, she had suspended her competitive career but had founded a tennis academy in Gurugram, where she coached young athletes.

In recent months, however, the girl's growing public visibility, including through social media and an appearance in a music video, had caused serious tensions within the family.

The case has sparked outrage across the country, once again highlighting the weight of patriarchal prejudices in Indian society. ‘We live in a sick society that despises women, especially when they do not conform to mediocrity and patriarchy,’ wrote a women's rights activist on social media, commenting on the case.

Despite repeated appeals from human rights organisations, so-called “honour killings” continue to be widespread in India, often motivated by alleged “dishonour” linked to women's autonomy or relationship choices.