Researcher from isolated Antarctica Base Snaps, attacks colleagues in “deeply disturbing” incident: E -mail drained

Member of a South African research team, which is limited for more than a year to an isolated base in Antarctica was placed under psychological evaluation there, after being assaulted and sexually harassed, government officials said.

The issues at the base of SMAEE IV were Reported for the first time by the Sunday Times newspaper in South AfricaWho said he saw an E -mail from a team member to the authorities last month, claiming that the man had attacked the basic leader and threatened.

E -mail pleaded for help.

“His behavior has climbed to a point that is deeply disturbing,” said E -mail, according to Sunday Times. “I am deeply worried about my own safety, asking me if I could become the next victim.” The report said the man would have made a death threat.

The Ministry of the Environment of South Africa, which supervises the research missions, said on Monday night that the alleged attack on the basic leader was reported on February 27, and the officials and counselors have from a distance “to mediate and restore the basic relations”.

They were talking to the team members almost daily, he said.

“The alleged perpetrator has voluntarily participated in a subsequent psychological evaluation, he showed remorse and is willing cooperating,” said the ministry, adding that he wrote a formal excuse to the victim of the alleged attack. He said the charges were investigated. No one has been identified.

The team of nine members, which includes scientists, a doctor and engineers, is expected to remain about 13 months until next year, the authorities said, living in close quarters in the hostile winter in Antarctica, whose six months of darkness start in June.

The base is on a rock in Queen Maud’s country and is surrounded by a glacial ice sheet, more than 2,485 miles from South Africa.

The next visit planned by a supply ship is in December, according to the Antarctic National Program in South Africa. It takes the ship for about 10 days to travel from Cape Town.

The authorities said they decided not to evacuate anyone from Sanae IV, where the onset of unpredictable weather conditions meant that the team was now limited to the base.

The ministry said that all team members have undergone evaluations before the travel to ensure that they are able to cope with the “extreme nature of the environment in Antarctica” and insulation and prison and no problems have been identified.

“It is not unusual that, once individuals reach the extremely distant areas in which the scientific bases are, an initial environmental adjustment is required,” he said.

Previous problems were related to another remote research base from South Africa on the island of Marion, a South -African territory, near Antarctica.

In 2017, a member of a research team there crushed the room of a colleague with an ax on an apparent love triangle, according to a report to the South African Parliament. The parliamentarians said that it seems that the researchers were living in extremely stressful conditions.

The National Science Foundation, the Federal Agency supervising the US Antarctic Program, has published a report in 2022 in which 59% of the women in the American program said they had suffered harassment or attack during research travel in Antarctica.