T

he trial of a janitor, who stands accused of sexually assaulting a Jakarta International School (JIS) student, began Monday at the South Jakarta District Court, while four other janitors facing the same charges are to attend their first hearings on Wednesday.

Jakarta Prosecutor'€™s Office spokesman Waluyo said that one of the defendants was scheduled to attend trial Monday morning, while the trials of the four other defendants would start on Wednesday.

He said the five accused would be tried separately, although they faced similar charges.

 '€œThe agenda is in accordance with the court'€™s schedule,'€ he said as quoted by tempo.co on Monday.

He added that according to their dossiers, the five suspects allegedly played different roles in the case.

The case first came to light when police arrested six janitors, employed at the school by outsourcing firm PT ISS, for raping a 6-year-old kindergarten student in a JIS restroom. One of the six subsequently died in police custody.

According to the prosecutors, they have been charged under articles 80, 81 and 82 of the 2002 Child Protection Law, which carry a maximum sentence of 15-years'€™ imprisonment.

Separately, the lawyers representing the five defendants have questioned irregularities in their clients'€™ dossiers.

One of the lawyers, Patra M. Zen, said that according to the victim'€™s medical examination, carried out at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta, bruises were found on the child'€™s stomach but there were no injuries on his rectum.

Patra said the examination results were not included in the police report. '€œThis will weaken the indictment,'€ he said Monday during a press conference held at the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

He added that the police report only made reference to the fact that the boy suffered from herpes, which could have been transmitted by other people, such as his relatives, through saliva.

Patra said he regretted PT ISS'€™ reluctance to assume any responsibility for the case, given that the suspects were employed under the company'€™s supervision.

Saut Irianto Rajagukguk, another of the defendants'€™ lawyers, said it was also strange that, according to the police report, the victim was allegedly raped by the six janitors within a 30-minute period.

'€œThe child would have passed out if he had been gang-raped like that,'€ he said.

Due to the irregularities, the legal team is demanding that all trial hearings be open to the public.

'€œThe trials should be open to the public so that they can be fully monitored,'€ Patra said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Two JIS staffers, who are currently being detained for their alleged involvement in separate sexual attacks on three other JIS kindergarten pupils, will also be standing trial at the same court.