Zhenhao Zou, a 28-year-old PhD student, drugged and filmed himself raping women between 2019 and 2024 after luring them to his flat with invitations to study or have drinks. Police fear more than 50 other women could be victims.
After his arrest at his flat in the Elephant and Castle area in January 2024, police discovered 1,664 hours of footage, including 58 videos of rapes filmed on secret cameras. They also found designer clothing and bags, a Rolex watch, and a box believed to contain “souvenirs” from his victims.
Since his conviction, more than 20 women have come forward to police, and still more remain unidentified, with police fearing there may be dozens more.
Zou remained impassive as Judge Cottage KC said he was “a highly manipulative and intelligent young man who gave no thought at all of the wishes and feelings of the women” he penetrated and filmed. They were, she said, “simply pieces in an elaborate game for one: you”.
Telling the Chinese national that he would spend at least 24 years in a UK prison before being considered for parole, she said he posed a “significant risk” and had an “abiding sexual interest in asserting … power and control over women”.
“The sheer scale of his offending, which spanned two countries, makes him one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen,” said DCI Richard Mackenzie.
Rape victims speak out
One rape victim said she had been filled with “romantic anticipation” when she met Zou, but after a night out she had woken to find him “thrusting violently against my body”. “What happened that night is etched into my soul forever,” she said. “His face, his expression – they will never leave me.”
Her memories caused migraines, physical pain and an “overwhelming urge to scrub myself clean”, she said.
Another victim, who has bipolar disorder, described the disintegration of her mental health. Anxious that others would be attacked she posted about the assault on social media, but was blamed by some users who asked why she had been drinking and gone to his house. “I no longer believe in the inherent goodness of people,” she said.
Serial rapist Zhenhao Zou jailed for minimum of 24 years
London student who police fear may have drugged and raped more than 60 women receives life sentence
