Zhenhao Zou: Serial rapist may have attacked dozens more women, police say, as international appeal launched
Police conclude a large number of victims remain unidentified as they say they are still trawling through 6.5 terabytes of data on rapist’s devices
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A serial sex predator is suspected of raping more than 60 women while studying in London, as the Met Police launch an urgent appeal for victim-survivors.
Zhenhao Zou, 28, has been convicted of raping 10 women between 2019 and 2023 by drugging them during social encounters, raping them at his flat, filming the encounters and keeping twisted souvenirs such as jewellery and underwear from his victims.
An investigation into his offending discovered a trove of material on a number of mobile devices and cameras totalling more than 1,660 hours of footage, which has led police to conclude that a large number of victims remain unidentified.
Describing the UCL PhD student as “one of the most prolific and substantial” sex offenders the Met have come across in recent years, his true number of victims remains unknown as investigators continue to trawl through 6.5 terabytes of data seized from his devices.
It was discovered that his pattern of offending would regularly include speaking to women online, before inviting them to his student flat at Woburn Place or his luxury apartment in Elephant and Castle on the pretext of studying or socialising.
He would give them a spiked drink before sexually assaulting and raping them. Secret cameras were hidden around the room to capture his actions. During his trial at Inner London Crown Court, Zou told jurors that his favourite kind of pornography was ”time-stop”, which features women who are immobile or asleep.
“It was after analysis of graphic and disturbing material held on his device that we were able to uncover the scale of his offending,” DCI Vanessa Britton said.
“We believe there may be more than 60 other women who may be victim-survivors and are not yet identified by the police.”
This figure includes the 10 women offences against whom he has been found guilty of at trial, yet only two of his victims have been identified and were able to support the prosecution case. A further 50 victims have been identified in videos appearing unconscious and unable to consent to sexual activity.
Metropolitan Police Commander Kevin Southworth said: “Zou was clearly a dangerous, prolific and predatory individual who preyed on his victim-survivors in the most cowardly and despicable manner.
“In addition to the charges that you’ve seen brought during this trial, we also have evidence that he may have potentially attacked as many as 50 other women in the same awful nature, and that’s why we’re launching this appeal now in the hope that as many of those victim-survivors as possible will come forward and give us the opportunity to give them the support that they deserve, and ultimately bring him to the further justice that he deserves for what he has done.
From his flight data and the data pulled from the footage, police believe half of the victims are in China. Speaking to reporters, the detectives leading the case confirmed that his target demographic was mainly young Chinese women who may have been studying or living in London.
Describing the investigation as “unprecedented and painstaking”, DCI Britton said: “Ultimately this figure is an indicative figure of what we believe the offending is. It may be more than that.”
Zou first moved to the UK in 2017 from China to study at Queen’s University in Belfast, before going on to study for a PhD at the prestigious UCL in 2019. During that period, he resided in student halls in Bloomsbury before moving to the luxurious Uncle building in south London.
He had been considered a “model student” and had been sociable throughout his time in the UK, attending nightclubs and throwing parties.
It was during this period that he also admitted to consuming Class A drugs such as cocaine and ketamine. He also underwent plastic surgery that included a hair transplant and alterations to his eyelids, chin and teeth.
Upon his arrest, police said he was “charming and self-assured” during interviews despite the evidence in the videos “clearly showing him in a different light”.
His flat cost thousands of pounds per month in rent and was full of designer clothing, luxury accessories and bags. Zou told jurors his father worked for a state-owned enterprise.
Zou first came to the attention of police in May 2023, when a woman reported that she had been raped at his flat.
The Met has since said they have “severe regret” over the way this initial report was handled. There were difficulties with the translator and the call handler was impatient.
The victim did not pursue the allegation at that time, but police found a social media post in February 2024 in which she gave her account of what happened.
When contacted by detectives, she said that she had been invited back to Zou’s flat for a drink after a gathering, and that he had forced her to drink vodka and refused to let her leave, before raping her.
The second victim identified by police made contact with the first woman in response to social media posts of hers on LittleRedBook and WeChat, and gave her account of what had happened to her.
She had consensual sex with Zou on one occasion in September 2021. The following month, after a dinner with friends, she found herself alone with him in the street in Chinatown and remembers vomiting.
Her next memory is of Zou raping her at his flat. She told police that she had asked him to stop before she lost consciousness.
When his flat was searched a “trophy box” filled with women’s possessions was found in his wardrobe.
The force said they are keeping an “open mind” but are keen to speak to anyone who may have studied with or known Zou while he lived in London, and anyone who may have socialised with him in China or online.
Zou has been convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim, as well as three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug, butanediol, with intent to commit a sexual offence.
He was cleared of two further counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of possession of MDMA with intent to commit a sexual offence, and four counts of possession of ketamine with intent to commit a sexual offence.
The Metropolitan Police are appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force either by emailing survivors@met.police.uk, or through the major incident public portal on the force’s website.