Man mistakes woman for a monkey, shoots her

updated 9:28 p.m. ET March 13, 2009

Yahaya Othman, police chief in eastern Pahang state, said the woman was gathering fruit Thursday when her neighbor shot her.

The man came home and saw rustling in the tree and fired into it, Yahaya said. "Then there was screaming ... and only then did he know it was his neighbor."

He said the woman was hospitalized with a wound to the abdomen but her condition was stable Friday.

He said police were investigating the man, a volunteer security corps member, for illegally discharging a firearm, which carries a maximum prison term of two years.