A PhD student found guilty of raping ten drugged and drowsy women in London and China could have at least 50 more victims.
Zhenhao Zou, 28, preyed on young Chinese women he met on dating apps and Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat and Little Red Book.
Zou, who was studying mechanical engineering at University College London, kept 58 videos of the rapes, police said. He also hoarded victims’ make-up and jewellery.
Police issued a picture of items Zou kept in an attempt to help trace victims
The Chinese citizen, of Elephant and Castle, south London, was found guilty of 11 rapes against ten women in London and China between 2019 and 2023. He was also convicted of 17 other charges including possession of extreme pornography, voyeurism and possession of butanediol with intention to commit rape.
A jury at Inner London crown court deliberated for 19 hours and 10 minutes beforereaching verdicts on all counts. Zou remained impassive in the glass-fronted dock as the foreman delivered the jury’s decision.
Zou was cleared of two counts of possessing an extreme pornographic image and a five charges of possessing MDMA, ketamine and Xanax with intention to commit rape.
Judge Rosina Cottage KC ordered a pre-sentence report and told Mark Cotter KC, Zou’s barrister: “I find your client is a dangerous and predatory sexual offender.”
She said that Zou faces “a long sentence” when he returns to the court on June 19.
Commander Kevin Southworth, the Met’s head of public protection, said Zou “may well turn out to be one of the most prolific sexual predators that we have ever seen in this country”.
Southworth said: “He is a devious and Machiavellian individual who will do anything to avoid responsibility for what he has done.
“The deceitful, cowardly, calculated and predatory nature of what Zou [was] charged with is unprecedented and not something I have experienced in my 28 years in policing. It’s vital we bring him to justice for all of his offending.”
Following his conviction on Wednesday, it can be revealed that police recovered more than 6.5 trillion bytes of data from Zou’s devices, including 1,660 hours of video and 9 million WeChat messages.
A deconstructed camera which belonged to Zou
Analysis of this material has led the Metropolitan Police to believe that Zou may have attacked at least 25 more women in London and another 25 in China. The Met has appealed to Chinese women who believe they may have been victims to come forward.
Eight of the ten women Zou was convicted of raping remain unidentified.
Scotland Yard said the “landmark” case was one of the “most complex investigations ever carried out” by the force. It appealed for potential victims to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Mackenzie, who led the investigation on behalf of the Met, said: “We are particularly keen to hear from women in the Chinese student community who may have met Zou and lived in and around London between 2019 and 2024.”
The Met released images showing Zou’s arrest
The Met also asked potential victims who had met Zou on social and dating apps such as Bumble and Jimu to contact them.
Mackenzie added: “We believe some women may not know they are a victim. We do not underestimate how distressing it may be to read or hear about Zou’s crimes.”Anyone with information has been asked to email
survivors@met.police.uk or call 101.
An image of items Zou took from victims, including lipstick, earrings, socks and keys, was released in case it “jogs women’s memories”.
Zou lived in a private student flat in Woburn Place in Bloomsbury, central London, and at UNCLE Elephant and Castle, a 46-storey apartment block in southeast London.
Zou’s bedroom in Elephant and Castle
The Met has been unable to conduct investigations in China. It is unclear whether the authorities in Zou’s homeland are investigating whether he committed more crimes there.
Southworth said: “We’ve been focused on this case … before drawing even more evidence from an overseas jurisdiction, it’s right the team concentrated on securing this conviction. We can take a staged approach and hopefully we might gain evidence from further engagement with the Chinese.”
Prosecutors were able to charge Zou with seven rapes carried out in China under Section 72 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It pertains to a UK citizen or resident who “does an act in a country outside the UK, and the act, if done in England and Wales … would constitute a sexual offence”.
Detective Chief Inspector Elsa Mak said: “This is a deeply distressing and awful case and we are committed to ensuring that this dangerous person faces justice.”
Mak, who is part of the force’s Asia Pacific staff association, said appeal posters in English and simplified Chinese would be circulated to universities, student and community groups, and social media channels and forums in the UK and China.
The case has highlighted the difficulties that women — especially those for whom English is not their first language — encounter when trying to report sex crimes to the police.
During the trial the jury was played a 999 call from a woman whom Zou falsely imprisoned and raped at his flat in Elephant and Castle in May 2023. The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, repeated the word “rape” and spoke in broken English before a Mandarin translator joined the call.
In the chaotic 24-minute exchange, the call handler appeared to be impatient as the interpreter tried to take information from the victim.
The woman gave evidence at the trial from behind a screen, with assistance from a Mandarin translator, and answered questions about her crime report. The judge, Rosina Cottage KC, later remarked: “I’m glad you have a better translator in court.”
Southworth said: “There is undoubtedly some learning from the first response these victims received. It’s a matter of severe regret that the victim did not get the best translation. We will make sure we have the right interpreters for Mandarin or any other dialect to make sure [victims] get a premier service.”
Zou first appeared at Croydon magistrates’ court charged with rape in February last year. By July, he faced charges over ten offences and at a pre-trial briefing last month journalists were told he was accused of 35 charges. As only two of his victims had been identified, the media raised concerns about the force’s decision to not publicise the case.
Zou was convicted of possession of butanediol with intent to rape
Andrea Simon, the director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “It takes a huge amount of courage to report a traumatic incident like rape to the police.
“Serious questions must be asked about the Met’s decision not to make public that charges had been made in this case, particularly once multiple victims had been identified, given how public reporting often encourages other victims to come forward.”
The Met said in response: “This was a deliberate, operational decision to protect the integrity of the legal proceedings.”
Dr Michael Spence, the president and provost of UCL, said: “We have been appalled by these horrific offences. 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.
“This case is particularly distressing and our focus is providing support for our students, alumni and staff through a range of services. We are here to support anyone at UCL who has been impacted by this case, directly or indirectly. Following the launch of the [Met’s] appeal, we urge anyone with information related to these crimes to contact the police.”
