KEY POINTS
- The Zhenhao Zou rape case involves 10 confirmed victims in London and China.
- Police found over 1,300 videos suggesting there are 50+ victims.
- Zou drugged and assaulted unconscious women, filming many of the attacks.
Zhenhao Zou, a 28-year-old PhD candidate, was convicted by an Inner London Crown Court jury of raping ten women in London and China between 2019 and 2024.
Zhenhao Zou rape case exposes horrifying pattern of abuse
After finding footage of multiple unnamed women being attacked, police fear that there are more than 50 victims, leading authorities to conclude that Zou’s crimes may be among the worst of their kind in Britain.
Zou used charm and deceit to entice his victims, drugged them, and then subjected them to sexual assaults, many of which he recorded, according to The Guardian.
Of his victims, seven were attacked in China, and three were attacked in London.
Police uncover disturbing footage of unconscious victims
According to Iol, Zou recorded nine of the assaults and retained a trophy box of his victims, according to the BBC. Additionally, at least 1,300 sex videos were found in his possession by the police. Zou maintained that every interaction was consensual.
Numerous films that were shown in court showed victims unconscious or incapacitated and their cries being disregarded.
When a lady accused Zou of raping her in his apartment in Elephant and Castle, southeast London in May 2023, he initially came to the notice of the police.
Although she did not report the assault right after, investigators discovered a social media post in February 2024 in which she described the attack in detail.
She had consensual intercourse with Zou once in 2021, but he raped her after drugging her in Chinatown in October 2021, according to a second victim who came forward after seeing the post.
With video evidence demonstrating multiple attacks on unconscious victims, authorities suspect Zou systematically preyed on women.
On June 1, 2025, Zou, an engineering student at University College London, will be condemned.
