Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Having to stand trial for a prank involving a bee sting and the sudden media attention was too much for a nine-year-old third grader to handle.

The boy was forced to stand trial at the Surabaya District Court allegedly for placing a bee on his classmate's cheek, a case that highlights the country's poor juvenile justice system that continues to fail underage offenders, with critics pointing to the number of underage children who are tried in regular criminal court and detained in adult prisons.

The boy's mother, Eny Sulistyawati, said that ever since the March 3, 2009, incident began to be probed by police, media attention has been high, causing the elementary school student to become a recluse. "He is ashamed of being asked about the case," Eny said.

The second of three siblings is being tried in absentia. The trial began last Monday, with the next hearing scheduled for Monday.

Prosecutor Syahroni said earlier the boy was charged with severe abuse leading to an injury to his schoolmate and could face a maximum sentence of 32 months in prison. At his home in the Tandes area in Surabaya, the boy said that when he grew up, he did not want to be a policeman, not because he was upset with the girl's father, police Comr. Supardi Astiko, who brought the case to court, but because he considered the job a tough one.

"A cop always leaves his family to conduct his duty. I would like to become a businessman like my father since he always has time to play with me everyday," he said, referring to his father, Seno Pranggono, who sells basic necessities in his store.

Among family members and neighbors, the defendant is known as a diligent, sociable and smart boy who helps his parents take care of his six-month-old sister as the family does not have a maid.

At school, Eny said her son is known as a cheerful boy who likes to joke with his classmates. He also plays the trumpet in the school's marching band and often represents the school in big festivals.

She said her family apologized to the girl's family and asked them not to take the case to court, but were turned down. The girl's family insisted on proceeding with the case, arguing that the girl was often a victim of pranks by her classmates.

"Supardi said he was hurt to learn his daughter was often teased by classmates while the school never punished her tormentors. He said that by bringing the case to court, he could give others a lesson," she said.

Eny and her husband still hoped their son did not have to appear at court, saying he was too young to handle the pressure. "We don't want him to be traumatized by the trial."

Asked for a confirmation via his cell phone, Supardi said based on the 2002 law on child protection, the media should have differently handled the coverage of a child facing a legal case. "As a law-abiding citizen, I don't want to comment," he said and hung up.

The case is not the first of its kind. In 2006, an eight-year-old boy was sent to an adult prison in North Sumatra for fighting with another student, but was later returned to the care of his parents.

The trial and detention of children as adults violates the 1997 law on children's courts, the 2003 law on child protection, the 1999 law on human rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Indonesia is a signatory.