The mother of a woman who shot an abbot at a Sangkhaburi temple claims her daughter is mentally deranged.

Abbot Phra Samunathaphon Yanwaro, 40, was shot three times on Sunday as he was finishing alms rounds at the temple of Wat Nong Eduk.

It was a Buddhist holy day or Wan Phra.

The abbot is recovering in a local hospital after the bullets were removed from his body.

In custody is a 31 year old woman called Arthitya. She shot the monk with a 9mm gun after arriving in a car.

She claims that the abbot had sex with her and made her pregnant. She then said he ordered her to have an abortion and swindled her out of 200,000 baht.

In an angry rage she said she went to the temple for revenge and shot him.

Temple officials said that the woman was a nun at the temple until eight months ago when she left. They dismiss her claims and believe that the abbot is not guilty of any wrongdoing.

The shooter’s mother said that her daughter is suffering from serious mental health issues and is deranged. She is on medication.

She had been muttering something about “killing him” in recent days but she did not know what her daughter was referring to.

She had no idea that she intended to go to the temple and shoot the monk.

The monk had told the authorities that he hardly knew the nun when she started making accusations about being swindled out of 200,000 baht some months ago.

Police are waiting until the monk recovers sufficiently before interviewing him.

(Source:Daily News)