Josef Fritzl, who imprisoned his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathered seven children by her, has been charged with murder.

The case relates to one of their children who died shortly after Elisabeth gave birth in the soundproofed basement under his house in the central Austrian town of Amstetten.

Fritzl, 73, has also been charged with rape, enslavement, incest and several other charges.

He has been in custody since the case was exposed in April and last month was declared to be mentally fit for a trial by jury.

The trial is expected to begin in early 2009 and he could face ten to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment if convicted on the murder charge.

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.