PhD student who raped 10 women may have dozens more victims, police say​on April 2, 2025 at 5:40 pm

LONDON – A lone woman’s rape allegation has resulted in the conviction of a former PhD student at a top British university of serial rape, after her report led police to uncover hundreds of secretly recorded videos that they say suggest he has more than 50 other victims.

Article content

Article content

Recommended Videos

Article content

Zhenhao Zou, 28, was convicted in London last month of raping 10 women in Britain and China between 2019 and 2023, some of whom police said he invited back to his London apartment, drugged and covertly filmed. Investigators are so far able to identify only two of the victims.

The trial’s spiraling scale has shocked Britain, as women continue to come forward with allegations following a police appeal for Zou’s victims.

On Wednesday, police said 23 more women have come forward with allegations against Zou in the month since his conviction – although they did not announce any additional charges. One of those women is believed to have been among the eight unidentified rape victims from Zou’s conviction.

In total, police believe that Zou may have committed crimes against more than 60 women, with some potentially unaware of their abuse because they were drugged.

Article content

Article content

An attorney for Zou did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.

Zou, then a mechanical engineering PhD student at University College London, was initially arrested in January 2024, after a woman accused him of rape. A police search of his central London apartment uncovered laptops, mobile phones and SD cards that contained hundreds of videos appearing to show Zou filming himself sexually assaulting other women, and hidden cameras that prosecutors said were used by Zou to covertly film his victims.

They also found butanediol, a “date rape” drug, in the apartment. According to police, Zou invited the women back to his home, where he offered them a drink that investigators believe contained the drug. “This would leave the victim-survivors drifting in and out of consciousness,” police said in a statement.

Article content

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, butanediol is converted into GHB once ingested, producing euphoric and sedative effects lasting up to three hours. It can trigger drowsiness and nausea at lower doses and unconsciousness or even death at higher doses.

“Zhenhao Zou is a dangerous and prolific sexual predator, who manipulated and drugged women in order to prey on them in the most cowardly way,” Metropolitan Police Cmdr. Kevin Southworth said in a statement following his conviction in March. “I’d like to acknowledge the two women who bravely gave evidence against Zou in court – their courage and resilience has been unwavering.”

Zou, who police said is believed to have lived in the United Kingdom since 2017, is from China’s Guangdong province. They said they were assisted by China’s Ministry of Public Security throughout the trial, which facilitated testimony from one of his victims.

Article content

The evidence suggested that all of Zou’s victims were of Chinese heritage, police said.

Police are appealing to women – particularly those from the Chinese student community who lived in London between 2019 and 2024 – to contact authorities if they believe they may have met Zou on dating apps or through social media. “Due to the nature of Zou’s offending, detectives believe that some women may not know they have been a victim-survivor and do not underestimate how distressing and difficult it may be to read or hear about his crimes following this verdict,” police said.

The investigation echoes that of French prosecutors into serial rapist Dominique Pelicot, who was convicted – alongside dozens of other men – of repeatedly raping his wife after police discovered evidence of his crimes on a trove of covertly filmed video recordings.

In addition to his conviction of 11 counts of rape against 10 women, Zou was convicted of voyeurism, false imprisonment, possession of a drug with intent to commit a sexual offense and possession of an extreme pornographic image. Of the 11 rape counts, four were in the United Kingdom and seven were in China, police said.

Police officers will submit any new evidence for further consideration by prosecutors after Zou’s sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for June 19.

Article content