A woman claiming to be friends with slain tennis player Radhika Yadav has alleged that Radhika’s father was heavily influenced by his acquaintances who were jealous of his daughter’s success and taunted him for “living off her”.
In a series of videos, with the second part posted on Instagram on Sunday, Himaanshika Singh Rajput claimed that she had known Radhika for almost 10 years and considered herself her “best friend”.
Radhika’s family often succumbed to “societal pressure”, she claimed, adding that the tennis player’s father was influenced by his acquaintances who often spoke ill of her daughter.
“Her father’s so-called friends were jealous of Radhika’s success. They used to taunt him saying things like ‘she wears make-up, short clothes’, ‘you are surviving thanks to her money’, ‘you make her do dhandha’ (prostitution). How many women must die due to men’s fragile egos,” Himaanshika said in the video.
In response to the videos, a spokesperson for the Gurugram Police said anyone could release videos with such claims. “We have sufficient evidence against the accused in this case,” he noted.
Himaanshika further alleged that Radhika was “miserable” 10 days before her death. “She was completely broken and had simply given up. She even told her family that she was ready to live according to their instructions.”
She also claimed that Radhika’s father had “psychological issues”, saying that he appeared to have “lost his mind” as he would walk around with an “expressionless” poker face.
Sharing details about the Yadav household, Himaanshika stated that the family was very “orthodox” and constantly worried about how society perceived them.
“Radhika loved posting videos and reels, but eventually, that stopped. Her family would often press her, saying, ‘What will people say?’ They had a problem with almost everything and restricted Radhika from doing what she liked. She even had a curfew,” she said.
Sharing examples of how the Yadavs “controlled” Radhika, Himaanshika alleged that the parents would constantly question their daughter about her whereabouts. “Her family made her do video calls to ascertain who she was with, even if I was with her.”
Emphasising the “suffocating” environment in the household, Himaanshika said it was a perpetual impediment for Radhika. “She had to answer their every question. She hardly spoke to anyone and was mostly seen with her family.”
Ruling out all possible angles of ‘love jihad’, Himaanshika demanded proof from those who were making such allegations. She also alleged that Radhika’s father drove her to the shoot of the music video that is being cited as the cause of her murder.
Additionally, she suspected Radhika’s murder was premeditated, claiming that her father had “planned the murder three days in advance”.
Radhika’s father, Deepak Yadav, 49, was produced in court on Friday and remanded to one-day police custody.
The 25-year-old received four bullets, three in the back and one in the shoulder, according to the post-mortem report by a board of three doctors, the police said.
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