Professor Annette Beck Sickinger of Leipzig University’s biochemistry department, in a series of emails posted on Quora and later appearing on Twitter, apparently denied an Indian student an internship citing the uptick in his native country’s “rape problem.”
In the first email, Professor Beck Sickinger explained to the student, “"unfortunately I don't accept any Indian male students for internships. We hear a lot about the rape problem in India which I cannot support. I have many female students in my group, so I think this attitude is something I cannot support.”
After the student replied, presumably indicating that the professor had made a huge generalization about the men of his country, she stuck to her guns:
“I fully agree that this is a generalisation and may not apply to individuals. However, it is also unbelievable that the Indian society is not able to solve this problem for many years now. Reports reach Germany on a weekly base, and especially these ‘multi-rape crimes’ are threatening, but for me also demonstrate the attitude of a society towards women. Also female tourists are kidnapped by groups of males and then abused.”
"Many female professors in Germany decided to no longer accept male Indian students for these reasons, and currently other European female associations are joining. Of course we cannot change or influence the Indian society, but only take our consequences here in Europe."
The emails, predictably, sparked commentary on social media after going viral.
— Abhishek Bansal (@iAbhishekBansal) March 9, 2015
— Stupid of Today (@StupidOfToday) March 9, 2015
— Monika Rawal (@monikarawal) March 9, 2015
In response, Germany’s ambassador to India, Michael Steiner, wrote a letter to Beck Sickinger condemning her actions.
"It has been brought to my attention that you denied an internship to a male Indian student, giving ‘the rape problem in India’ as a reason. Let me make it clear at the outset that I strongly object to this.”
Steiner referred to the Nirbhaya rape, in which a 23-year-old woman was beaten and gang-raped by six individuals on a private bus she was traveling on in December 2012.
Rape is the fourth most common crime in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012.
In another email screenshot, the Professor Beck Sickinger acknowledged that she made a rather gross generalization of Indian men after a final exchange with the student and wrote, "I fully agree, I will no longer respond to emails of that type. However this is too late now and I just can learn for the future.”
The professor has since apologized to the student, the Times of India reported.
