Gurugram witnessed a brutal crime on July 9 when a 25-year-old state-level tennis player, Radhika Yadav was killed by her father, Deepak Yadav. He murdered his daughter with his licensed revolver. The brutal murder has lead to a question what would make a parent kill their own child?
As for police, the killing was not spontaneous. It was a calculated move born of years of tension between Radhika and her father over her increasing independence and success, in particular. Villagers in their home village of Wazirabad had supposedly ridiculed Deepak for “living off his daughter,” an affront he could not stomach. In confessing, he informed police his “dignity was hurt.” That wounded pride, investigators say, was the catalyst.
In the days after the killing, Radhika’s friend and fellow tennis player Himaanshika Singh Rajput uploaded a tearful video to social media, claiming that Deepak was controlling and possessive in Radhika’s life. “He had made her life hell,” she said. “And then he ended it.” Such crimes are comes out of power, control, revenge, or wounded ego.
A landmark paper in the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling by Dr. Melanie Moen and Prof. Christiaan Bezuidenhout examines crime occurrences in South Africa insights which resonate very far beyond.
The researchers examined 20 filicide cases for revenge from 2003 to 2021, based on court papers and press reports. 60% of the offenders were married men and women, respectively, when they committed the murders. The means were gruesome: strangulation, poisoning, stabbing, and battering.
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So why did parents do this?
As Moen and Bezuidenhout report, extreme emotional distress, interpersonal fighting, rejection, jealousy, and a loss of control were the typical provokers. In many instances, parents had acted out of anger after a breakup, divorce, or being replaced by another partner. The parent’s identity, social status, and power relations had changed, and they lashed back.
A parent kills a child due to loss of social identity resulting from rejection, intense anger and fury, blaming others for their suffering, sadism, and the desire to harm,” the researchers stated.
These crimes, they say, are usually motivated by a need to establish “reciprocal justice.” The killing parent feels that in killing the child, they are causing equivalent emotional pain on the partner or ex-partner who they hold responsible for their misery.
“The overwhelming, blinding rage that sweeps away everything in its path… leads to a desire to cause pain at all costs, sometimes sadistically.”For Radhika, violence had nothing to do with injuring a spouse. There was no former partner involved. But the feelings hurt pride, battered ego, need to reestablish control remain consistent with revenge filicide.
Parents Honour, But at What Cost?
India has had a long experience of honour killings, usually targeting daughters for being allowed to decide who to love or how to live. But Radhika’s tale adds another twist: a woman punished not for love choices but for career aspirations.
In those instances, honour is used as a weapon not to defend family honour, but to defend fragile male egos. The independence of the daughter is perceived as defiance; her success, an insult.Radhika Yadav had a bright future. Not only a player, but also a mentor, mentoring others through her tennis academy. Her aspirations were hers alone and she gave the price of that independence in her life.
Sofia Babu Chacko is a journalist with over five years of experience covering Indian politics, crime, human rights, gender issues, and stories about marginalized communities. She believes that every voice matters, and journalism has a vital role to play in amplifying those voices. Sofia is committed to creating impact and shedding light on stories that truly matter. Beyond her work in the newsroom, she is also a music enthusiast who enjoys singing.
