London-based Chinese student, 28, drugged & raped 10 women, 50 more victims possibly involved

A London court found a PhD student from China guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in England and China.

Zou Zhenhao, 28, was convicted on Mar. 5 of the attacks that took place between 2019 and 2023, after jurors deliberated for more than 19 hours, AP reported.

Possibly as many as 50 other victims

The police have warned there could be more than 50 other victims, which would make him one of the worst sex offenders in UK history.

Came from wealthy family

The student comes from a wealthy family, BBC reported.

He owned a Rolex watch, designer clothes, and had undergone cosmetic procedures, including hair transplant and facial surgery.

He paid £4,000 (S$6,865) a month in rent in London.

Zou moved to Belfast in 2017 to study at Queen's University.

He then moved to London in 2019 to do a master's degree and then a PhD at University College London (UCL).

Modus operandi

Zou used the name Pakho online and befriended students of Chinese heritage on WeChat and dating apps.

He would invite them for drinks and drug them at his apartments in London or an unknown location in China.

Metropolitan Police Commander Kevin Southworth said Zou did "all that he can" to "incapacitate his victims to the point where they could not resist his attack".

In many instances, they may not even remember what had occurred to them, he said.

Offences

The month-long trial at the Inner London Crown Court saw Zou convicted of 11 counts of rape against 10 different women.

Two of the offences are related to one victim.

Jurors concluded that Zou raped three of the women in London and seven in China, which happened during the pandemic, BBC reported.

Two women involved in the rapes in London were identified and gave evidence, while the woman involved in the other two rapes have never been tracked down, BBC added.

Police have yet to trace eight other women.

The prosecutions relating to attacks in China were possible as foreign nationals who are living in the UK can be charged with an offence committed abroad that is also illegal in the country where it took place, BBC reported.

Zou, a mechanical engineering student, claimed that the sexual encounters were consensual.

Investigators discovered nearly 1,300 videos, but Zou insisted the sex depicted was consensual, Sky News reported.

Zou said he liked "rape role play" and pornography involving sleeping women.

He told the court: "I like it because the girl appears to be still and quiet when they are having sex."

He will be sentenced on Jun. 19.

Filmed assaults

Zou filmed nine of the attacks using hidden or handheld cameras and kept them as “souvenirs”, alongside a trophy box of women’s jewellery and clothing.

Hidden cameras were discovered in his bedroom.

Jurors had to watch footage of nine of the attacks during the trial.

They showed Zou having sex with women who were unconscious or semi-conscious, BBC reported.

The jurors were given regular breaks as they appeared visibly affected.

Will be given long sentence

Judge Rosina Cottage said Zou's sentence will be “very long”, BBC reported.

He described Zou as a “dangerous and predatory sexual offender”.

Zou showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out in court, AP reported.

He was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 counts 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.

The controlled drug, butanediol, an industrial chemical, can be converted into the "date-rape" drug GHB.

Zou was cleared of two counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one of possession of MDMA, which is an ecstasy, with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Southworth 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”.

London police is appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force.

Following the trial and as a result of the media coverage, the Met confirmed that one woman has already been in touch.

Top photos via Metropolitan Police