Fritzl daughter is too ill to testify against father say doctors at psychiatric ward

Instead the questioning of Elisabeth together with her mother Rosemarie has been rescheduled for the end of the month, three weeks later than originally planned, with the possibility that it could still be further delayed if she did not feel up to it.

Brave Elisabeth, 42, had insisted on bringing forward her testimony to police to ensure that his trial can take place as soon as possible.

Her statement about her 24 years of rape and imprisonment at his hands together with that of her mother will be made via video links where she will see her father on a TV screen as he will be in on the link-ups from his prison cell.

Josef Fritzl (left) and his daughter Elisabeth who he held hostage in a cellar for 24 years. The story was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary 'The Secrets of the Austrian Cellar'

The live linkup means he will be able to make comments about her statements if he wishes alongside prosecution and defence lawyers and the judge.

Officials argue that having everyone present when the statement is taken from 42-year-old Elisabeth can be used instead of her having to personally appear when he is finally charged over her rape and imprisonment. The video sessions are now timed for the end of July and police hope this will speed up the legal process to see Fritzl, 73, in the dock by the start of next year.

Before Elisabeth's insistence on making her statement sooner rather than later, police said they had doubted if the trial could go ahead within the next two years after they were constantly turned down by doctors in their requests for an interview.

A hospital insider told Austrian media: "She was determined to make sure he did not escape on a technicality or get freed on bail if the proceedings were to drag on too long. When she found out that the trial could not go ahead without her statement she insisted on it being done as soon as possible."  Doctors will be on hand at all times to ensure she does not suffer a breakdown as she relives her years of torment for the record.

Austrian public prosecutor Gerhard Sedlacek, who is dealing with the case, said: "We should be able to finalise the charges and the early stages by November, with a trial now in the winter months."  The statements will be taken from Elisabeth and her mother in a room where she will be connected with a video linkup - questions can be asked from prosecution and defence as well as by the judge.

The children who lived with her in the cellar with him will be quizzed at a later date and may not be included in the trial. Prosecutors have said it is the evidence of Elisabeth and her mother that is most crucial to their case.

Meanwhile doctors caring for the family say that Elisabeth's daughter Kerstin, 19, was making great progress since she had started getting specialist help from ergonomics experts.

Ergonomics is more commonly applied to designing office environments and uses a mixture of scientific and evidence-based information about an individual's physical and psychological capabilities and limitations to design an environment that will help her to fit in and grow stronger after her ordeal.

A psychological profile of Fritzl will be completed shortly before Elisabeth is due to give her videotaped testimony.

Police say that so far 100 people have been interviewed in connection with the case which was exposed on the 27 of April when police arrested Elisabeth on suspicion of child abandonment when she came to visit Kerstin in a hospital in Amstetten.