Zhenhao Zou, a 28-year-old PhD student, has been found guilty of raping ten women across London and China. Photo: Screenshot/BBC
Image: Screenshot
Zhenhao Zou, a 28-year-old PhD student, has been found guilty of raping ten women across London and China.
The jury at Inner London Crown Court delivered their verdict following more than 18 hours of deliberation, revealing the extent of Zou's predatory behaviour, which authorities believe may be among the worst of its kind witnessed in Britain.
Police believe that there are over 50 victims after footage was found of numerous unidentified women being attacked.
According to The Guardian, between 2019 and 2024, Zou used charm and deceit to lure his victims, drugging them before subjecting them to horrific sexual assaults.
The publication said the gruesome nature of the crimes is compounded by the fact that Zou filmed many of the assaults, documentation that played a crucial role in his conviction and will lead to significant jail time.
It was further reported that three of Zou’s victims were assaulted in London while the remaining seven were attacked in China.
Disturbingly, videos presented in court showed many victims rendered unconscious or incapacitated by the drugs he administered, while he callously ignored their pleas for him to stop.
The BBC said he filmed nine of the assaults as souvenirs and kept a trophy box of victims.
In addition, police found at least 1,300 sex videos which Zou insisted that the sex was consensual.
Meanwhile, the Independent reported that Zou first came to the attention of police in May 2023, when one of the identified women claimed that he had raped her after not allowing her to leave his flat in Elephant and Castle, southeast London.
It was said that she did not report the incident immediately but later, in February 2024, investigators found a social media post where the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, explained what had happened.
When contacted by detectives, the victim told them that on May 18, 2023, Zou invited her to his friend’s flat for a drink, and then back to his place.
They were drinking wine together, but she began to find him “odd and boring” and wanted to leave. However, he blocked her from leaving/ Zou allegedly restrained her, forcing her to drink a large glass of vodka before sexually assaulting her while she was incapacitated
Notably, police recovered video footage and graphic photographs from Zou’s possession that purportedly captured the incident.
It was further reported that the grim narrative continued to unfold after a second victim came forward, inspired by the first woman's posts on platforms like LittleRedBook and WeChat.
The second victim disclosed that, while she had consensual intercourse with Zou once in September 2021, everything changed the following month after a dinner with friends.
The publication reported that she found herself alone with Zou on the streets of Chinatown, where she recalls becoming ill. Her next memory, she states, is being raped at his flat, despite pleading with him to stop before losing consciousness.
It is said that Zou had video recordings of him raping a number of other women while they were unconscious and unable to consent.
Zou, who was studying engineering at University College London, will be sentenced on June 1, 2025.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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