A Chinese post-graduate student, Zhenhao Zou, has been jailed for life by a London court for drugging and raping 10 women in the UK and China. The 28-year-old was convicted of 28 offences, including 11 counts of rape, three counts of voyeurism, and one of false imprisonment. Judge Rosina Cottage said there was “no doubt that you planned and executed a campaign of rape” that had caused “devastating and long term effects”.
Zou, described in court as “calculated and predatory”, targeted young Chinese women who he invited to his London flat for drinks or to study before drugging and attacking them. He filmed nine of the rapes with hidden or handheld cameras, but only two of the 10 victims have ever been identified. Zou will spend a minimum of 22 years in jail after accounting for time already spent in custody.
Victims told the sentencing hearing in impact statements of the psychological damage they suffered, including nightmares, self-harm, and a sense of despair and isolation. One victim recalled “wandering like a trapped animal trying to find an exit” after she was attacked. “What happened that night is etched on my soul,” she said, adding that Zou’s family was “very powerful in China” and she feared he would “seek revenge”.
London’s Met police said they have evidence to suggest Zou could have targeted more than 50 other women and urged possible victims to come forward. Commander Kevin Southworth said, “Given how prolific Zou seems to have been, there is every potential he could be one of the most prolific offenders that we’ve ever seen.” Southworth added that 24 potential victims had already contacted officers from “different parts of the globe”.
The Met’s investigation involved analyzing six and a half trillion bytes of data, including around nine million WeChat messages. Officers watched hundreds of videos stored on Zou’s devices, which appeared to show him filming himself raping and sexually assaulting women.
After the sentence, Saira Pike of the Crown Prosecution Service said, “Zou is a serial rapist and a danger to women.” Pike added that analysis of footage and web chats showed the former student’s “meticulous planning and the horrifying execution of his crimes”. Judge Cottage described Zou as a “sexual predator” who treated his victims “callously” as “sex toys” for his own gratification.