Chinese student found guilty in British court of drugging and raping 10 women

A Chinese doctoral student has been convicted in a London court for drugging and raping 10 women in the UK and China. Police have warned that there may be more than 50 victims.

The 28-year-old man, Zhenhao Zou, was convicted on Wednesday of a series of attacks between 2019 and 2023. Following a month-long trial at the Inner London Crown Court, he was found guilty of 11 counts of rape, including two involving the same victim.

After more than 19 hours of deliberation, the jury found Zou guilty of raping three women in London and seven women in China. Police have currently identified only two victims and stated after the verdict that there may be more than 50 women who were victims of Zou, potentially making him one of the worst sex offenders in British history.

Zou used hidden or handheld cameras to record the attacks and kept recordings of nine attacks as "souvenirs," also frequently keeping a "trophy box" containing items belonging to the women. Zou, who was studying for a PhD in mechanical engineering at University College London, claimed that all sexual activity was consensual. His sentencing is scheduled for June 19.

Judge Rosina Cottage described the defendant as a "dangerous and predatory sex offender" and stated that his sentence would be "very lengthy." Zou showed no emotion in court as the verdict was read, and he was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, ten counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, one count of false imprisonment, and three counts of possessing a controlled drug, butanediol, with intent to commit a sexual offense.

He was also found not guilty on two charges: one count of possessing extreme pornographic images and one count of possessing MDMA with intent to commit a sexual offense. Zou used the alias Pakho online and befriended female students of Chinese descent through WeChat and dating apps, then invited them to his London apartment or an unknown location in China to drink and be drugged.

"He went to extreme lengths to incapacitate his victims to such an extent that they were unable to resist his attacks, and in many cases, may not even remember what happened," said Commander Kevin Southworth of the Metropolitan Police. He thanked the two women who came forward to accuse Zou, who was "particularly cowardly and devious," and stated that there was evidence that he "may have attacked as many as 50 other women in the same appalling way."

The Metropolitan Police are appealing to anyone who believes they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the police. During the trial, a report by one of the women led to questions about the quality of the translation provided. "We deeply regret that the victim did not receive the best translation at the time," Southworth added.

Zou moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen's University, before moving to University College London in 2019 to pursue a master's degree, followed by a PhD. Dr. Michael Spence, President and Provost of UCL, said: "Our thoughts are with the survivors, and we pay tribute to the bravery of the women who reported these crimes and gave evidence at trial."