A serial rapist – who drugged and raped a number of women both in the UK and China – has been convicted following one of the most complex investigations carried out by detectives in the Met.
Zhenhao Zou, 28, of Churchyard Row, Elephant and Castle, was today (Wednesday, 5 March) found guilty of a total of 28 offences, including 11 counts of rape against 10 different women.
A jury found Zou guilty after a five-and-a-half-week trial at Inner London Crown Court. He will be sentenced at the same court on Thursday, 19 June.
Following the conclusion of today’s court proceedings, detectives can now share they believe the scale of Zou’s offending may be much wider and are making a direct appeal for any victim-survivors who have not yet been identified to come forward and seek specialist support.
While detectives have identified two victim-survivors, eight of the women who Zou was convicted of raping remain unidentified. Beyond this, detectives believe there may be more than 50 other women who may have been a victim and have not yet been identified by police.
Zou is originally from Dongguan in the Guangdong Province of China and is believed to have lived in the UK since 2017.
Before his arrest in January 2024, Zou was a student at University College London (UCL) since 2019 and prior to that studied at Queen’s University Belfast.
Zou met women using online platforms and dating apps, inviting them to his home under the guise of studying or to have drinks. Officers have established that he invited women back to his address – one in central London and another in Elephant and Castle.
Once inside, he would offer them a drink which contained a substance – believed to be butanediol, which converts to GHB once in the human body.
This would leave the victim-survivors drifting in and out of consciousness. While unconscious, he filmed himself as he raped and sexually assaulted them.
Zou also kept items from victim-survivors, such as jewellery and clothing.
After a woman came forward to report Zou, police searched his home and found the drugs butanediol and ketamine, as well as a number of hidden cameras. They also seized a number of laptops and mobile phones, which later uncovered the true scale of Zou’s offending.
Officers downloaded the digital devices amounting to six and a half trillion bytes of data, which included around nine million WeChat messages.
Met investigators spent months trawling through messages to understand Zou’s pattern of offending, painstakingly translating them into English from Simplified Chinese.
They also watched hundreds of videos stored on his devices, which appear to show Zou filming himself raping and sexually assaulting women. It was after analysis of this graphic and disturbing material that it became apparent that he had not only committed offences in London but also in his home country of China.
During the trial, officers were assisted by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, who helped to facilitate one of the brave victim-survivors giving evidence against Zou.
As part of the investigation, the Met has also been supported by the Crown Prosecution Service, the National Crime Agency and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
To protect the integrity of ongoing legal proceedings after Zou was first charged with offences, detectives have not been able to appeal for further potential victim-survivors until this time publicly.
The Metropolitan Police is now asking anyone who thinks they may have been a victim to come forward and speak with police.
Specialist officers work closely with victim-survivors to seek justice and are available to offer support and signpost to external partners so they can get help.
Officers are keeping an open mind about the identities of unidentified victim-survivors but are particularly keen to hear from women from the Chinese student community who may have met Zou and were living in and around London between 2019 and 2024. They also would like to speak to potential victims-survivors who may have met Zou while he was living in China.
Women may have met Zou via online platforms, including student forums on the Chinese social media apps WeChat or Little Red Book, or may have spoken to him on dating apps, such as Bumble.
Victim-survivors may have visited Zou at his accommodation in Woburn Place in central London or his address in Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle in London. Others may have met Zou when he was living in China.
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. They are reassuring potential victim-survivors that any reports will be fully investigated and dealt with the utmost sensitivity, care and compassion.
Officers also understand that not every victim-survivor may wish to speak with the police to get support. Therefore, the charity Rape Crisis is also offering support for women to seek help and guidance from advisors who are independent of the police.
As part of their appeal, detectives are also keen to speak to any witnesses who might have helpful information, in particular, anyone who might have met Zou at parties or spoken to him on social media apps and has any concerns.
Commander Kevin Southworth, lead for public protection at the Metropolitan Police, said, “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. I’d like to acknowledge the two women who bravely gave evidence against Zou in court – their courage and resilience has been unwavering.”
