Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger of Germany’s Leipzig University has been roundly condemned for refusing to give an Indian student an internship, citing India’s ‘rape problem’.

The Times of India reports, “German ambassador to India Michael Steiner responded to the fast-brewing controversy , issuing a strongly worded letter to the professor, condemning her action. A subsequent apology from the Leipzig-based biochemistry professor, Dr Annette G. Beck-Sickinger, was then posted on the German embassy’s website.”

Steiner himself tweeted the full text of his scathing letter to the professor in which he concludes, “I would encourage you to learn more about the diverse, dynamic and fascinating country and the many welcoming and open-minded people of India so that you could correct a simplistic image, which - in my opinion - is particularly unsuitable for a professor and teacher.”

The Guardian additionally reports, “in a statement, Leipzig University said Beck-Sickinger had rejected the student’s application for a job as a part-time trainee on the grounds that there were no vacancies. It added that the student would not accept the refusal and started a discussion about German and Indian societies.”

The Indian Express quotes from an email it received from the professor, “I currently have two male Indian students in my lab and trained four of them last fall, so I have nothing against Indian students. I apologise for any inconvenience or misunderstanding.”

The controversy erupted after a rejected student posted Professor Beck-Sickinger’s email to him on Quora, “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 this attitude is something I cannot support.”

She has since apologised.