Modernity and patriarchy collide as murder shakes up Millennium City

In Gurugram, builder Deepak Yadav allegedly shot his daughter, tennis player Radhika, over social pressure and patriarchal insecurities, shocking the community.

On the outside, the building looks like any other house in this posh corner of Gurugram. A towering arched window pane dominates the three-storey facade, faded but serene images of Hindu deities peeking out. A green tarpaulin sheet dangles casually from the top floor, perhaps to shield against the punishing summer sun or monsoon drizzles. A white Thar stands in a narrow driveway, flanked by a pair of motorbikes.

An undated photo of Radhika Yadav, a state-level tennis player, who was allegedly shot dead by her father after he was angered by her “reel” on social media, in Gurugram. (PTI)

But it is inside this house, in Gurugram’s upmarket Sector 57, that 51-year-old builder Deepak Yadav allegedly pumped four bullets into his daughter, tennis player Radhika Yadav, while she was cooking breakfast around 10.30am on Thursday.

Deepak has confessed to the crime, and initial police investigation has hinted at a toxic cocktail of social pressure, patriarchal insecurities, and wounded ego as one of the motives behind the shocking crime. But the crime has also shaken one of India’s most prosperous pockets, where skyrocketing salaries and real-estate heft often hides an ugly underbelly of caustic social attitudes that are steeped in an aversion to modern life, especially women’s freedoms.

“When I used to go to Wazirabad village to get milk, people used to taunt me, saying that I live off my daughter’s earnings. Some people even questioned my daughter’s character. I told my daughter to close her tennis academy, but she refused. This situation kept bothering me as it hurt my dignity,” Deepak told the police during questioning, officials said.

“Because of this tension, I took out my licensed revolver, and when my daughter Radhika was cooking in the kitchen, I shot her three times from behind, hitting her waist. I have killed my daughter,” he has told the police, according to officials.

The murder coincided with Radhika’s mother Manju Yadav’s birthday.

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The Yadavs were prosperous, with interests in the construction and sale of builders’ floors, leasing out properties on rent, and land deals. They had moved out of Wazirabad village to the city nearly a decade ago. The reason, relatives said, was simple: To give the children, especially Radhika and her elder brother Dheeraj, a better shot at education and life.

“Deepak was obsessed with players such as Saina Nehwal who is also from Haryana. He would often say, ‘Radhika will go further.’ He spent lakhs on her training,” said Kuldeep Singh, a local resident of Wazirabad. “He shifted homes more than once just to be near her coaching academy.”

Radhika matched those expectations with grit. After completing her studies from the Scottish International High School in 2018, she began running a sports academy for children, earning well on her own. She reached a career-high ITF doubles ranking of 113 in November 2024, and was ranked fifth in Haryana in women’s doubles. She also won private events and Haryana district championships.

But with every achievement, a different burden grew — not of performance but perception. In Wazirabad, relatives said, locals started taunting Radhika’s father. “You have money, why is your daughter working? Why do you need her to earn?” they asked.

She was also popular on social media, another sore spot for her father.

“They saw Radhika’s success not as pride, but as shame,” said one of the family’s relatives, requesting anonymity. “There were whispers — she’s always travelling, she’s coaching boys, she’s too visible. This is how women are still viewed in parts of Haryana, no matter how far we think we have come.”

In Wazirabad, the local councillor is a woman. But empowerment, residents admit, remains mostly on paper.

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Police say Radhika and her father had heated arguments before the shooting.

“Neighbours say he began feeling small when people mocked him for living off his daughter’s earnings, even though he was financially well-off himself,” said Sandeep Kumar, the public relation officer of Gurugram Police. “It appears to be an ego collapse.”

Relatives are confused by the lack of any financial strain. “His business was doing well. He used to build and sell builder floors. His son had started his own business too. They were stable,” said Kuldeep Yadav, the uncle of the deceased, adding that Deepak’s rental income was nearly ₹10 lakh a month.

The father, police said, has not yet fully opened up. “He is in shock and in regret. We have begun the process to revoke his arms licence and will be seeking a longer remand for detailed questioning,” said station house officer of Sector 56 police station, Rajender Kumar. The revolver allegedly used in the crime was legally issued five years ago.

In Gurugram’s sports circle, Radhika’s death is being seen as a collective loss. Her coach, Manoj Bhardwaj, remembered her as “disciplined, polite, and driven.”

“She had offers to join national camps. We were training hard to get her into the international circuit,” he said. “She would come early, stay late, and she loved teaching younger kids. She had that spark.”

Her students, many of whom she coached personally, held a silent vigil on Thursday evening. A few scribbled “Justice for Radhika” on the academy’s whiteboard.

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Radhika’s body was handed over to the family on Friday evening. As the pyre was lit, her younger brother Dheeraj stood stunned, unable to speak. Her mother Manju collapsed multiple times. “We raised her for this?” a relative sobbed.

But police have questions about Manju Yadav, who was allegedly present at the time of the crime. Dheeraj was at a property dealer’s office, police said.

The police have asked Manju Yadav several times to provide a written statement, but she refused, and verbally said that she was down with fever and was lying in her room. “She claimed she did not know what happened or why her husband killed their daughter. She said that Radhika had a good character and could not understand why her husband would kill her,” said Sandeep Kumar, public relations officer of the Gurugram police.

The autopsy confirmed Deepak allegedly shot Radhika four times in the back. “Four entry wounds in the back were found. All four pellets were retrieved from the body. There were no exit wounds. Her heart and lungs were pierced causing excessive blood loss resulting in the death,” said Dr Deepak Mathur, Gurugram civil hospital forensic wing incharge.

The crime has also pointed to the dichotomy of modernity and patriarchy that appear to co-exist in thriving cities such as Gurugram. “This is not just a family tragedy. It is a societal failure. We condition men to associate identity with control and dominance. When those slip, they often don’t know how to process that emotion,” said Soniya Yadav, the councillor of the area.

“This incident is deeply disturbing. Wazirabad village is part of Ward 21, which otherwise comprises mostly posh areas like Sushant Lok 2, where the family had moved for better opportunities. No mistake by a daughter—if there even was one—is big enough to warrant this kind of punishment. At the very least, she deserved one chance,” she added.

But it’s not like the father doesn’t have his supporters. “The father had already done a lot. He supported her and just because of her, left the village and moved to an apartment that had better surroundings. What else could he do?” asked Sube Singh Bora, a former chief of Wazirabad village.

“It must be a serious reason why he murdered her.”