On Monday, the 16-year-old daughter testified that her father 'touched [her] body'. But when the prosecutor asked her where, she said she did not remember.

Her 14-year-old sister told the court that she 'didn't remember' how she felt about her father three years ago.

When asked if she knew why she had been brought to the courtroom to testify, she muttered: 'I don't know what to say.' Facing their father across a courtroom packed with reporters, lawyers and spectators, they kept their heads and voices low. Judge Surman had to repeatedly ask both girls to speak up.

Outside the court, the lawyer for the father said the intimidating atmosphere of the courtroom made his job easier.

'In other jurisdictions it's handled more sensitively,' said defence counsel Kevin Egan.

'In the United Kingdom and some states in the United States, there are provisions now where, in appropriate cases, kids can give evidence via a television monitor in an adjacent room. The children are not then subjected to physical confrontation with the . . . parent.' He said the monitors were ideal for incest cases.

A spokesman for the Judiciary said there were plans to bring the system into Hong Kong's courtrooms.

By the end of the year, closed-link televisions installed in specially designed studios within court buildings should be installed.

'The idea is to minimise the trauma,' the spokesman said. But she said the plan could not go ahead unless it was approved by the Legislative Council.

In the District Court yesterday, the 16-year-old girl sat alone in the witness box during a break in the proceedings, awaiting the judge's return with her face in her hands.

Social Welfare Department spokesman Liu Chun-keung said social workers usually stayed close to alleged victims when they appeared in court 'to show them support'.

He said the department did not offer any facilities or programmes designed specifically for incest victims 'because they are so uncommon'.