London: A Chinese PhD student was found guilty on Wednesday in a London court of drugging and raping 10 women in England and China, as police warned there could be more than 50 other victims. Zhenhao Zou, 28, was convicted of the attacks between 2019 and 2023 following a monthlong trial at the Inner London Crown Court. He was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offenses relating to one victim. After more than 19 hours of deliberations, jurors concluded Zou raped three of the women in London and seven in China.
Filmed 9 of the attacks
Police have only been able to identify two of the victims and said after the verdict that more than 50 other women may have fallen victim to Zou, which would make him one of the worst sex offenders in UK history.
Using hidden or handheld cameras to record the attacks, Zou filmed nine of the attacks as “souvenirs” and often kept a trophy box of women’s belongings. Zou, a mechanical engineering student who was doing his PhD at University College London, claimed that the sexual interactions were consensual. He will be sentenced on June 19.
Jurors, who had to watch footage of the attacks during the trial, were given regular breaks. Judge Rosina Cottage described the defendant as a “dangerous and predatory sexual offender” and that his sentence will be “very long”. Zou, who showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out in court, was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offense, namely butanediol. He was cleared of two further counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one of possession of MDMA with intent to commit a sexual offense.
He befriended fellow students of Chinese heritage
Zou, who also used the name Pakho online, befriended fellow students of Chinese heritage on WeChat and dating apps, before inviting them for drinks and drugging them at his apartments in London or an unknown location in China.
“He has done all that he can in these offenses to incapacitate his victims to the point where they could not resist his attack, and in many instances may not even remember what has occurred to them,” said Metropolitan Police Commander Kevin Southworth.
He thanked the two women who testified against the “particularly cowardly and deceitful” Zou and said there is evidence that he “may have potentially attacked as many as 50 other women in the same awful nature.” The Met is appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force.
During the trial, a call to police from one of the women led to questions over the quality of the interpreter made available. “It’s a matter of severe regret that the victims didn’t necessarily get that best translation at the time,” Southworth added.
Zou moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen’s University before heading to UCL in 2019 for a master’s degree and then a PhD. “Our thoughts are with the survivors and we wish to pay tribute to the bravery of the women who reported these crimes and gave evidence at the trial,” said UCL’s president, Dr. Michael Spence.
