More than 20 women have come forward to police to say they may have been raped by Zhenhao Zou, a Chinese PhD student in London who is believed to be one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders.
Zou, 28, was found guilty last month of raping 10 women in a campaign of predatory sexual attacks against women who had been plied with alcohol and drugged.
The Chinese national, who was studying for a PhD in mechanical engineering at University College London, filmed the attacks for his horrifying collections of souvenirs.
The Metropolitan Police launched an international appeal after the guilty verdicts, to try to track down more of Zou’s suspected victims.
The force now says 23 women have contacted detectives, saying they may have been targeted by the serial rapist.
Some are based in the UK, and others are in China and other parts of the world, Scotland Yard said. The force also said potential witnesses have come forward to assist the investigation.
Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth said: “Given how prolific Zou seems to have been, there is every potential he could be one of the most prolific offenders that we’ve ever seen in this space.”
When launching the appeal, Met detectives said they already have more than 50 videos believed to show Zou raping women, but they had not been able to identify the victims.
Zou faces a lengthy jail sentence, and possible life term, when he is sentenced on June 19.
Work is already underway to see if the 23 new potential cases could result in Zou facing further charges, according to Commander Southworth, who appealed for others who have concerns to come forward.
He said: “We have victims reaching out to us from different parts of the globe.
“At the moment, the primary places where we believe offending may have occurred at this time appears to be both in England, here in London, and over in China.
“We haven’t had any victim-survivors yet report an offence in Belfast but we’re open-minded about that.
“Given how active and prolific Zou appears to have been with his awful offending, there is every prospect that he could have offended anywhere in the world.
“We wouldn’t want anyone to write off the fact they may have been a victim of his behaviour simply by virtue of the fact that you are from a certain place.
“The bottom line is, if you think you may have been affected by Zhenhao Zou or someone you know may have been, please don’t hold back. Please make contact with us.”
Zou used hidden or handheld cameras to record the attacks, keeping the footage and sometimes the belongings of the women as souvenirs.
He studied for an undergraduate degree at Queens University in Belfast between 2017 and 2019. He then moved to London to study at UCL.
Zou is known to have targeted young, Chinese women, inviting them to his flat for drinks or to study, before drugging and assaulting them.
Zou was convicted of 11 counts of rape against ten women, three counts of voyeurism, 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence.
Zou lived in a student flat in Woburn Place, near Russell Square in central London, and later in a flat in the Uncle building in Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle, south London.
The Metropolitan Police is appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force either by emailing survivors@met.police.uk, or via the major incident public portal on the force’s website.
