UK court convicts Chinese PhD student of drugging, raping 10 women

A Chinese PhD student was found guilty on Wednesday in a London court of drugging and raping 10 women in England and China, as police warned there could be more than 50 other victims.

Zou Zhenhao, 28, was convicted of the attacks between 2019 and 2023 following a month-long trial at the Inner London Crown Court. He was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim.

After more than 19 hours of deliberations, jurors concluded Zou raped three of the women in London and seven in China.

Police have been able to identify only two of the victims and said after the verdict that more than 50 other women may have fallen victim to Zou, which would make him one of the worst sex offenders in UK history.

Using hidden or handheld cameras to record the attacks, Zou filmed nine of the attacks as “souvenirs” and often kept a trophy box of women’s belongings.

Zou, a mechanical engineering student who was doing his PhD at University College London, claimed that the sexual interactions were consensual. He will be sentenced on June 19.