The killing of 25-year-old state-level tennis player, Radhika Yadav, allegedly shot dead by her father in their Gurugram home last week, sparking not just grief but a disturbing wave of online trolling targeting an old project she starred in.
A bittersweet music video, now tinged with tragedy, shows the young tennis player’s fleeting smiles, moments frozen in time before her life was cut short. The video, which had barely 21,000 views until five days ago, has now crossed a lakh dragging its co-star, singer Inamul Haq, into a vortex of false rumours and communal slurs.
Despite Gurugram Police clarifying that neither the video nor Radhika’s social media activity is linked to the crime, baseless claims of “love jihad” have flooded social media. The Indian Express reported that Inamul, currently based for work in Dubai, insisted his connection with Radhika was purely professional. “People are turning this into a Hindu-Muslim issue… there is no angle of ‘love jihad’,” he was cited by The Indian Express.
“I woke up to the news on July 11. My phone wouldn’t stop ringing,” Inamul was cited by The Indian Express as saying. The singer, who participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs in 2011 and later acted in TV shows like Crime Patrol, added, “My mother in Aligarh was crying, asking about my relationship with Radhika. I told her we were only professionally connected.”
The two had reportedly met just twice - first during player trials for the Punjab Tigers, a Tennis Premier League team co-owned by actor Taapsee Pannu. “A colleague noted Radhika had good screen presence and wanted to do ads or videos. We connected on Instagram and I said I’d reach out if something came up,” he said.
The Karwaan music video, shot last year in Greater Noida, was a low-budget project. Radhika, he said, arrived with her mother and appeared “calm and composed.” Inamul claimed her father liked the song’s audio, so she had his permission. Post-shoot, Radhika stopped promoting the video, citing busyness. Their last chat, on April 6, was about a jewellery ad she declined, recommending a friend instead.
Inamul, now facing vicious online attacks, said he is willing to cooperate with investigators. “If they ask for my phone, I’ll hand it over. The police can do whatever is necessary,” he was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.
Radhika was killed on Thursday morning while cooking at home. Her uncle, Kuldeep Yadav, heard gunshots and found her bleeding. The FIR notes Deepak Yadav, her father, was allegedly taunted by neighbours for “living off his daughter’s income” after she refused to quit coaching at a tennis academy.
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