Zhenhao Zou, 28, was jailed today as detectives take new evidence from 24 women who have come forward in response to a police appeal to trace suspected victims as new charges are considered
A PHD student jailed today for drugging and raping 10 women faces fresh charges relating to up to 24 more alleged victims.
Zhenhao Zou, 28, was convicted of the harrowing attacks involving two women who have been identified and another eight who had not been found. At the end of his trial in March, Scotland Yard detectives said they fear he could have targeted more than 50 more potential victims at his flats in London and China.
Since his conviction, dozens of women have come forward in response to a police appeal to trace suspected victims. Commander Kevin Southworth, the Met’s head of public protection, said that Zou “could be one of the most prolific offenders that we’ve ever seen in this space”.
Mr Southworth said in April that specialist officers had spoken with all of the women who have come forward as they probe any potential new crimes. They have been working with the Crown Prosecution Service as they build a file of evidence to submit for further consideration by prosecutors in the coming months.
Mr Southworth said: “This is a significant step in our ongoing investigation and I’d like to thank the women who have bravely come forward since our appeal. Our priority remains to offer them the best possible support throughout this immensely difficult time. I would also like to thank Londoners and the wider public who have shared our appeal and helped us raise awareness of this case – helping to reach further women and witnesses who we believe will be crucial to the next phase of our investigation.
“As part of our work to make London safer, officers and staff at the Met are continuing their efforts to tackle violence against women and girls and put victim-survivors at the heart of our response.”
Zou kept a trophy box of women’s belongings and filmed nine of the attacks, with jurors in the case forced to watch the disturbing footage. At the end of his trial in March, detectives said they feared he could have targeted more than 50 more potential victims.
When he was convicted, Judge Rosina Cottage said he is a “dangerous and predatory sexual offender” and warned him he faces a “very long” jail term when he is sentenced on Thursday.
After a month-long trial, Zou, who was most recently living in Elephant and Castle, south-east London, was found guilty of raping three women in London and another seven in China between September 2019 and May 2023.
He was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim. Zou 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 offence, namely butanediol.
Prosecutors said Zou appears to be “a smart and charming young man” but is in fact “a persistent sexual predator, a voyeur and a rapist”. He comes from a wealthy family, and had enough money to afford a Rolex, a wardrobe full of designer clothes, and cosmetic procedures including a hair transplant and facial surgery, while paying thousands a month in rent living in London as an international engineering student.
Police found hundreds of hours of disturbing videos and photos that he kept, around half of which are thought to have been filmed in the UK and half in China. Zou, who also used the name Pakho online, befriended fellow Chinese students on WeChat and dating apps, before inviting them for drinks and drugging them at his flats in London or an unknown location in China.
The student first moved to Belfast in 2017 to study mechanical engineering at Queen’s University before heading to London in 2019 to do a master’s degree and then a PhD at UCL.
Investigators first charged Zou in January 2024, but waited for more than a year until he had been convicted before making public appeals for further victims to come forward. His crimes began to be uncovered in November 2023, when a woman went to police to allege that she had been attacked by Zou.
One of the two victims who has been identified by police told the jury she was raped after Zou pushed her to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and would not let her leave his flat in Elephant and Castle in May 2023. The second, who is now living in China, said she was also raped by Zou, in his student flat near Russell Square in October 2021, when she was unconscious.
The case has chilling parallels with Reynhard Sinaga, 41, who was jailed for life in January 2020 at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty of 159 counts of sexual offences against 48 different men. There was also the case of serial killer Stephen Port, who received a whole life term after raping and murdering four men with overdoses of the sedative drug GHB, and drugging and sexually assaulting seven others who survived.
Reports relating to Zhenhao Zou can be made online via the Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP). The MIPP is also available in Simplified Chinese.
If you wish to speak to Met detectives or make a report relating to Zou, you can also contact police via email on survivors@met.police.uk You can also make a report to police by calling 101 from within the UK, quoting reference 2904/04FEB25.
