WWE legend and BJP candidate Dalip Singh Rana, famously known as The Great Khali, has denounced the horrific murder of 25-year-old tennis player Radhika Yadav in Gurugram as a tragic indication of a “regressive mentality.”
25-year-old state-level tennis player Radhika Yadav of Haryana was murdered by her father Deepak Yadav on Thursday as she was preparing food in the kitchen of their residential house in Sushant Lok-II area of Gurugram. In police reports, the 49-year-old victim used at least five shots from his authorized .32 bore revolver, with three bullets hitting Radhika in the back. She was killed instantly. Deepak Yadav was picked up shortly after and has already admitted to the crime, officials said.
In response to the brutal act, The Great Khali, a father of a daughter himself, declared: “This is not merely a crime, it’s a problem of mentalities. How are we going to fulfill the slogan ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ if even fathers are murdering their daughters?”
Daughters are no less than sons. I urge everyone, stand by your daughters, let them grow, let them play sports. We cannot be a vishwaguru unless we work on changing this mindset,” Khali said to news agency ANI.
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Behind Radhika Yadav’s murder: Family Tensions and Control
While the formal motive for the murder is a quarrel over a tennis academy that Radhika was operating, more underlying tensions in the family are also now emerging. Deepak was reportedly resentful of being financially dependent on his daughter, and had long-standing complaints about her increasing autonomy, sources said.
Radhika, who played for Haryana in a number of tournaments, had been taking on rental of tennis courts for training young kids. Although she had no tennis academy, her increasing profile and emerging social-media popularity apparently infuriated her father.
One WhatsApp conversation between Radhika and her coach Ajay Yadav has come up, wherein she described her desperation to run away from home “at any cost.” She further spoke of shifting to a foreign country, indicating a severe family conflict and rift.
Family sources indicated that Radhika’s recent showing in a music video with an emerging artist might have further incensed her father, who was said to have been uneasy with her presence and influencer-model-like online visibility.
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.
