A woman has accused the London student Zhenhao Zou of raping her within the same 24 hours that he raped someone else.
In June, Zhenhao Zou was sentenced to life in prison for raping 10 women. in the UK and in China between September 2019 and May 2023. During that time, he studied at University College London (UCL). At least 24 more women have come forward and accused him of assaulting them. The investigation could lead to a second trial.
One of these women told the BBC that Zhenhao Zou raped her in October 2022. Rachel (not her real name) said she agreed to go out for drinks with him. He drove her to his villa in the countryside near Dongguan, China. Rachel claims he gave her a whisky cocktail that made her dizzy, then raped her. Phone records show she rang her friend for help, but Zou grabbed her phone and didn’t return it until the next afternoon.
Rachel said: “My friend was afraid that if she kept asking, he’d go to extremes and hurt me… The man treated me as a toy.”
Police found butanediol, a substance with sedative effects, in Zou’s apartment in London (Image via Met Police)
She didn’t report this incident in China as she was worried she didn’t have enough evidence. Rachel feels that if she had phoned the police straightaway, Zou might not have met up with another woman that evening. “I know everyone will say this is his fault, not mine, but I still feel sorry.”
A few hours after Zou drove Rachel home, he met up with another woman. The UK police refer to her as Female D. Zou has already been convicted of raping Female D using video evidence found in his London apartment. During Zou’s trial, the police didn’t know who she was. After she learned about Zou’s conviction, she contacted the UK police.
Zou drugged Female D then filmed himself raping her. According to her statement, she couldn’t leave until the next day. Female D says she experienced nightmares after Zou attacked her, and “couldn’t be alone after dark”.
Detectives initially wondered if these two women were the same person, as Zhenhao Zou met them within hours of each other. A source familiar with the investigation told the BBC: “He was getting away with it, so he wanted to do it more and more.”
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Following Zou’s conviction, the Metropolitan Police said Zou could have attacked more than 60 women.
Zou studied part of his undergraduate degree at Queen’s University in Belfast, then moved to London in 2019 to attend UCL. The university confirmed Zou was suspended on 27th January 2024 and that he’d stopped studying there “as soon we were informed about the allegations”.
Featured images via the Met Police.
