A Chinese PhD student believed to be one of the UK’s worst sex offenders has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years for drugging and raping unconscious women.
Zhenhao Zou,28,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.
He filmed the attacks as souvenirs and kept a trophy box of women’s belongings,including clothing,jewellery and a lipstick.
His crimes began to be uncovered in November 2023,when a woman went to police to allege that she had been attacked by Zou.
There was not enough evidence to bring a criminal charge over her claim,but when Zou’s phone was seized officers found disturbing videos of him raping unconscious women,and pipettes and sedating drugs in his flat.
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.
After the month-long trial,detectives said they fear he could have targeted more than 50 more potential victims.
More than 20 women contacted the force following publicity in the media around Zou’s trial to say they think they may have been attacked by him.
Commander Kevin Southworth said: ‘Given how prolific Zou seems to have been,there is every potential he could be one of the most prolific offenders that we’ve ever seen in this space.’
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.
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.
UK detectives have said the Chinese authorities were ‘responsive and helpful’ over the investigation into Zou,although no properties where he lived in China have been searched even though many of his crimes took place on Chinese soil.
After Zou’s trial they began discussions with China about whether social media appeals to potential victims could be made on WeChat and Little Red Book,which are more commonly used in the country.
Zou was convicted of rapes that he committed in China in a UK court because foreign nationals living in Britain can be convicted of crimes committed abroad if the act is an offence in both countries.
United News - unews.co.za