'Evil' student sentenced to life in jail for drugging and raping multiple women
One of Britain's worst rapists suspected of targeting over 60 victims has been jailed for life.
Chinese student Zhenhao Zou, 28, was described as an 'evil' sexual predator who hid behind a 'charming mask' as he was imprisoned for a minimum of 24 years for drugging and raping ten women in London and China during his time as a student at University College London.
Following his conviction in March, detectives revealed they had evidence relating to suspected attacks on another 50 women after uncovering a sickening collection of trophy videos kept by the engineering PhD student as a souvenir.
A further 24 victims came forward to say they were raped by Zou while he was studying in the UK.
He filmed some of his victims in sick home videos that he kept of his attacks.
Victims told how they were 'haunted' by the sickening attacks as a judge said the sexual deviant had treated unconscious women like 'sex toys' for his own pleasure.
Inner London Crown Court heard that Zou had offered to be chemically castrated to avoid a life sentence.
However, Judge Rosina Cottage said he would always be a risk to the public because of his 'sexual interest' in 'asserting power and control over women', and added that his victims were just 'pieces in an elaborate game'.
Upon sentencing him to life, Judge Cottage said: 'The charming mask hid the fact that you are also a sexual predator.'
The son of a wealthy Chinese Communist Party official and industrialist, Zou stalked student bars, accommodation, and online dating apps for victims, plying unsuspecting women with drinks laced with drugs.
He lured the women back to his lavish student apartment in East London with the promise of a party or help with studies, before stupefying them with drink and drugs until they fell unconscious, enabling him to film his sickening attacks on hidden bedroom spy cameras.
One victim, who Zou had described as 'the perfect girlfriend choice', recalled waking in a strange room after going to a drinking party in 2021.
The victim said: 'I experienced for the first time a loss of consciousness. I opened my eyes for a few seconds during the sexual assault in [Zou's] room, he was thrusting violently against my body. I was completely powerless and could only use all my strength to demand he stop.
'Although I lost consciousness just moments later, his face in that moment will clearly stay in my mind forever.'
She later awoke naked next to him: 'Panic surged through me-everything about the room I was in was unfamiliar and I had no memory of how I got there.
'That night, it was as if the world had vanished from my life for hours.
'I will never forgive him.'
TV appearance: Zou boasted of his sexual prowess and appeared on a dating show in China
Another app: A Tinder profile where he appeared under a different name
Disturbingly, many of the women targeted may not realize they had been raped as some of Zou's home videos showed his captives so incapacitated that he was able to slap one victim around the face without them rousing.
Zou unwittingly left a treasure trove of evidence for officers by recording the attacks for his own twisted gratification and hoarding personal items stolen from victims, ranging from underwear and lipstick, to a Chanel earring.
Out of it: Zou's home videos showed his captives so incapacitated that he was able to slap one victim around the face without them rousing
By the time of his trial, only two of the ten victims had been identified by police, but now detectives have traced a third victim.
Detectives have established from the video clips seized that there are at least another 50 unknown women attacked.
One victim said the attack in his London flat in May 2023 had a 'severe impact' on her mental health, resulting in her self-harming to try to manage the pain.
The judge said of her case: 'Outrageously, she was trolled on social media for having bravely warned others. It has rocked her to her core, she feels guilt for your behavior, you (Zou) feel no shame.'
Found: A number of other illicit substances were also recovered by police
Another victim in China described being 'gagged by shame' and 'haunted' by nightmares following the attack.
On June 19, jurors who had earlier wept upon seeing the distressing rape videos returned to Inner London Crown Court to see him sentenced.
Bespectacled Zou wore a navy suit and tie and he stared at jurors, showing no emotion as he was jailed.
Contraceptives: Zou kept a large collection of condoms in a Louis Vuitton box
Facade: He mostly posed as a diligent student
Scotland Yard began investigating Zou in November 2023 after a woman reported him for rape.
When officers examined his digital devices, they uncovered over 1,600 hours of videos.
Victims living in Britain, China, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe have since come forward.
Chillingly, Zou said the victims in his videos were only pretending to be asleep as he enjoyed 'time-stop' pornography.
Saira Pike, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Zou is a serial rapist and a danger to women. His life sentence reflects the heinous acts and harm he caused to women and the danger he posed to society.'
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