'Radhika Yadav was an employee of tennis academy, not its owner' | Exclusive
Person who trained under her debunks media reports, says she hardly had any social media presence, and did mention once that her family was highly conservative
Debunking media reports that 25-year-old tennis player Radhika Yadav was shot dead by her father Deepak Yadav over her ownership of a sports academy, and that he was unhappy with her social media activities, a source told The Federal that neither reason could be true.
Radhika was employed as a head coach at Ryder's Sports Academy, and she hardly had any social media presence, at least in the past six months, said a Gurugram resident who trained under her.
Listed reasons
Media reports said Deepak Yadav shot his daughter at their Gurugram home on Thursday (July 10) over her refusal to accept his ultimatum to close down 'her' tennis academy. He allegedly fired three shots from his licensed revolver at his daughter in the kitchen. Their mother was also present in the house, though in a different room, it is said.
The father is reported to have told the police that neighbours taunted him for living off his daughter’s earnings from the tennis academy. The situation is said to have “hurt his dignity”.
Other reports said Deepak was unhappy that Radhika made Instagram Reels, which his family and community disapproved of.
He told the police that he was 'troubled and stressed', and was battling depression for the past couple of weeks.
Also Read: Gurugram tennis player Radhika Yadav shot dead by father
Just turned 25
However, the source told The Federal that Radhika was coaching at the academy from 6 to 10 in the morning. Again, she would coach for three to four hours in the evening, mostly children. Radhika also took up some private coaching assignments. "She was not the owner, just a senior coach," the source said.
The Federal ascertained this by examining company details on the Zauba Corp website, since the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) website is shut for maintenance.
As a coach, Radhika was vivacious and friendly, and used to joke around with her students, being a typical 20s professional.
Her birthday fell a few months back, but she was not exactly joyous about it. "I don't feel like celebrating it," she told the source, adding that she was turning 25.
Another remark that Radhika made in passing had the source thinking. "She said her family was highly conservative," the source told The Federal. "I pondered over the dichotomy there. She was a young player who would necessarily have to travel, meet new people, and so on. I wondered how her family viewed it," she added.
Social media presence
The source said that when she joined the academy six months ago, she did a social media search of Radhika Yadav and could hardly find any presence. "I couldn't find any account, photo or post," she said. She pointed out how almost all news articles (including this) are using just one photo of Radhika, taken when she was in her teens.
"She either carefully avoided social media or meticulously removed all traces of her presence at some point," she said.
The source further noted that she had never seen Radhika taking a selfie at the academy, let alone shoot an Instagram Reel. There was no way her father could shoot her over this, as suggested by some media reports, she added.
She was also sceptical of the Radhika being the sole breadwinner theory."The family has a multi-storeyed house in Gurugram. It is unlikely the family was fully dependent on her financially," she said.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Radhika’s mother, Manju Yadav, refused to give a statement to the police, saying she had not seen anything since she was running a fever.
