London, Jan 30 : Austrian incest fiend Josef Fritzl, who caged his teenage daughter in a cellar and repeatedly raped her over 24 years, has converted to Buddhism.

The 74-year-old has also invited criminal psychologists to study his warped mind.

Fritzl first came to know about the religion - which focuses on personal spiritual development - during a family holiday in Thailand.

But he only recently became a devoted follower while in jail, reports the Sun.

He is currently awaiting trial on March 16 for murder, rape, slavery, incest, imprisonment and abuse.

But he hopes to be reincarnated as a decent person in his next life if he can help stop other weirdos copying his crimes.

He wants experts to quiz him to work out the root of his evil.

Fritzl told his lawyer: "They should look at what makes me tick and learn from it to stop anything like this happening again."

Forensic psychiatrist Professor Reinhardt Haller said: "It would be foolish to refuse this offer."

Fritzl imprisoned his daughter Elisabeth for 24 years in a dungeon under the family home in Amstetten and used her as his sex slave.

She bore seven children by her dad - one of whom he is accused of killing by failing to get medical help when the boy was born with breathing difficulties. An eighth child was miscarried. (ANI)