New Delhi: A professor at one of Germany’s oldest universities apologised on Monday for denying an internship to an Indian student because of the “rape problem in India” after the German ambassador strongly condemned the incident.
The matter came to light after a colleague of the Indian student posted emails exchanged between Annette G Beck-Sickinger, the professor at Leipzig University, and the student on the question-and-answer site Quora. Neither the student nor the colleague identified themselves.
The issue emerged amidst a renewed debate on the country’s poor record in women’s safety, especially after the controversy generated by the banned documentary, India’s Daughter, which purportedly highlights the misogynist mindset of Indian men.
By Monday evening, another student came forward to tell the media that Beck-Sickinger had refused his PhD application in March 2014 on similar grounds. In an email purportedly sent by the professor to this student, she wrote she no longer accepted “any male Indian guests, trainees, doctoral students, or post docs due to the severe rape problem in India”.
In a statement posted on the German Embassy website, Beck-Sickinger apologized, saying: “I have made a mistake. I sincerely apologise to everyone whose feelings I have hurt.”
Beck-Sickinger, a professor of biochemistry and bio-organic chemistry, did not deny the email exchange with the Indian student who initially accused her.
Reached for her comments through email, she told Hindustan Times that the matter was a “misunderstanding” and the outcome of an “unpleasant discussion” with the Indian student.
She claimed the university did not discriminate with Indian students and that she had accepted several Indians in her department in the past.
“Unfortunately, this mail was a misunderstanding. Of course, I have nothing against male Indians and I have accepted several Indian students in the past. Currently, two male Indian students work in a lab course with me in my labs,” she said.
“However, my lab is full and I cannot take any additional student in summer. This led to an unpleasant discussion with one of the Indian student,” she added.
One email from Beck-Sickinger posted on Quora stated: “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.”
On the Quora post, the Indian student’s colleague said Beck-Sickinger had also sent him an email in which she said it was “unbelievable” that Indian society had not been able to solve the problem of rape.
