HONOLULU (AP) -- A 19-year-old exchange student from Japan who suffered second-degree burns when a 12-year-old boy set fire to her shirt at a bus stop has returned to her classes.
The woman suffered burns on her hands, arm and back. She has her hands bandaged and is in ``a little bit of pain,'' said Jessica Lani Rich, president and executive director of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, which assists visitors who become victims of crime.
The bandages are making it difficult for the woman to use chopsticks to eat and do other chores, but Rich said she is ``doing fine.'' A section of the woman's hair was burned, and she had an appointment at a beauty salon after classes on Wednesday, said Rich, who also was arranging a tour for the victim and several friends on Saturday.
The woman from Kagoshima City, Japan, who asked not be identified, is scheduled to return to Japan on Sunday. She is in Hawaii with 40 other students on a two-week study tour who are attending classes at a local community college.
The woman was stepping onto a city bus in Kailua in Windward Oahu on Sunday afternoon when the boy approached her from behind and quickly flashed a lighter against her shirt in an apparent prank, police said.
They said the boy was ``messing around'' with his friends and was not trying to set the shirt on fire.
The woman was wearing a nylon, tight-fitting shirt, the same type worn by surfers. The material was flammable, police said, and quickly ignited. Other bus passengers quickly put the fire out and the woman was not seriously burned.
The boy, a resident of Waimanalo, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault. He was charged with first-degree criminal property damage because it is the most severe charge possible, said city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle.
The boy has been detained and faces a trial on Oct. 7.
The maximum penalty if he is convicted would be incarceration at the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility until he turns 19, Carlisle said.
Hawaii law prohibits anyone under the age of 14 from being tried as an adult. The boy's case will be handled in Family Court, and proceedings will not be made public.
