'Sexual predator' student accused of drugging and raping 10 women 'kept souvenirs’
Zhenhao Zou, who was studying at UCL, allegedly made recordings of himself abusing unconscious women
![Zhenhao Zou is accused of drugging and raping 10 women](https://static.the-independent.com/2025/01/29/16/19/Zhenhao-Zou-split-copy.jpeg)
A PhD student accused of being a ‘persistent sexual predator’ allegedly filmed himself raping multiple women while they were unconscious, a court has heard.
Zhenhao Zou, 27, allegedly drugged or pressured 10 different women to drink large quantities of alcohol, before sexually assaulting them and taking intimate pornographic images.
At the time of the alleged offence, he had been studying an engineering course at University College London, having studied in the UK for the last seven years after moving from China.
He was arrested after one of the women reported him to the police, which led to them seizing his camera and mobile phone and uncovering the videos.
Zou, of Southwark, has denied 35 offences which include 11 rapes on 10 women, 12 charges of possession of extreme pornographic images, three counts of voyeurism, one of false imprisonment and eight counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply.
Jurors at Inner London Crown Court heard on Wednesday that only two of the women had been identified, but not the remaining eight.
![Zou has denied all 35 charges against him](https://static.the-independent.com/2024/08/09/15/e4b8a8feb6dab2f84f8c2002be6b33c0Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzIzMjk5MjIy-2.11713238.jpg)
The student, who moved to Belfast in 2017 to study at Queen’s University before coming to London in 2019 to do a master’s degree and then a PhD at UCL, had initially appeared as “a smart and charming young man”.
“The prosecution says that he is a persistent sexual predator; a voyeur and a rapist,” prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC said.
“The prosecution case at this trial is that he would meet women, he would stupefy them, either with drugs or with alcohol, and, once they were significantly under the influence of drink or drugs, he would then rape them.
“Often, he would record himself doing so, which the prosecution say are the defendant’s souvenirs of many rapes that he had committed; items that he kept for his own private sexual gratification, so that he could watch, at his leisure, his rapes of these women, who he had rendered unconscious and totally vulnerable to his will.”
In one video, Zou can be seen allegedly raping a woman, known as Female A, the court heard while she said: “I really don’t want… I beg you, don’t do this.”
In response to her repeated pleas for him to stop, the prosecution said, he tells her “don’t push me, it’s pointless” and comments that the sound insulation in his bedroom is “very good”.
Another woman, identified only as Female D, was seen in footage either unconscious or telling the defendant to let her go and trying to fight him off, jurors were told.
Police first became aware of the case in May 2023, when one of the women reported an allegation of rape. She later decided against pursuing an allegation due to her mental health.
Upon speaking to officers on the second occasion in February 2024, the woman provided police with an account of her experience and confirmed she had been approached by another alleged victim who claimed she had also been raped by Zou.
![The prosecution case against Zou opened at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday](https://static.the-independent.com/2025/01/29/12/cac8ad4510081dddee7ea46ab155dfc3Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM4MjM3NDAy-2.11713227.jpg)
The court heard that regarding the woman who initially decided against pursuing an allegation, she had been invited back to Zou’s flat in Elephant and Castle after attending the party on 18 May 2023 and that he had given her wine.
“After a while, she began to find the defendant odd and boring and he was trying to get close to her, which she didn’t like, so she indicated that she wanted to leave but the defendant persuaded her not to,” Ms Farrelly said.
She claimed when she tried to run to the door to leave, Zou “dragged her back by her clothes into his bedroom”, and kept her there against her will.
After she became semi-unconscious, the defendant allegedly proceeded to rape her, with the woman telling police she was “drunk, I was really tired, I can’t fight back, I have no strength”.
In the morning, she woke up at 6am without any clothing and feeling “dizzy and drowsy”, the court heard, with her underwear found in the defendant’s wardrobe.
Police later discovered recordings and graphic images on Zou’s camera of the woman, where she can be heard asking to go home, the prosecution said, stating she is feeling unwell and screaming repeatedly before the defendant pushes her down to the bed.
The second alleged victim told police that she had met Zou in September 2021 and had stayed at his address and engaged in consensual sex.
A month later, she had invited him to her birthday with friends in central London. Her recollection became “unclear” and she remembered vomiting in the street with the defendant, before being back at his address with him on top of her, she said.
She claimed that he was having sex with her in a “fast and forceful way”, and that she had asked him to stop before falling unconscious.
“The prosecution says that it is clear that the defendant had sex with her when she was in no position to consent, she had passed out through drink, and he had sex with her anyway,” Ms Farrelly said.
An examination of his laptop found searches for sleeping drugs, how long semen remains in the vagina and a visit to a page relating to ‘Surveillance Spy Hidden Cameras’, the jury heard. Drugs found in his possession included MDMA, GHB, Ketamine, and Xanax, the court was told.
Zou sat in the dock wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt, and navy blue tie as the prosecution case opened.
The trial is set to last for four weeks.
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).