London, Aug 26 : Austrian incest fiend Josef Fritzl is to face up to 3,000 rape charges at his three-day trial.

The 74-year-old has confessed to having sex with his daughter Elisabeth "two or three times a week" over 24 years.

Mentally tortured Elisabeth, now 42, who was locked in the basement, has been helping Austrian detectives prepare their case by reliving her captivity on video camera.

Hours of harrowing footage will then be shown to a jury in her absence during the closed, private trial, scheduled to start by December.

The public will be barred from all sessions of the trial at the courthouse in Sankt Poelten in Austria, with the exception of the opening speeches and the judge's final sentencing, repots The Daily Star.

Fritzl had allegedly kept Elisabeth as a sex slave for 24 years, along with three of the six children he fathered by her. A seventh child died and its body burned by Fritzl.

In April, Elisabeth was rescued along with her children Kerstin, 19, Stefan, 18 and Felix, six.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that Fritzl can escape a life term, for his daughter Kerstin is too ill to speak.

Police were banking on crucial evidence from Kerstin to jail evil Fritzl for the death of the baby inside the cellar.

According to detectives, Kerstin was the only person in the dungeon to see the callous act. However, she is too ill to speak.

In case, Kerstin refuses to give evidence, Fritzl will only face charges of manslaughter and kidnap and could be freed within just 10 years.

Kerstin is still receiving round the clock medical and psychiatric treatment.

ANI