Dongguan, Guangdong’s Zhenhao Zou sentenced to life

Zhenhao Zou, 28, of Dongguan, Guangdong, China lived in an apartment in Elephant and Castle, London, England, United Kingdom while attending University College London in London. He is considered one of the worst sex offenders in the U.K.

A Chinese PhD student has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years for drugging and raping 10 women in London and China. 28-year-old Zhenhao Zou filmed some of the attacks and eight of the women have yet to be traced. pic.twitter.com/sJWV9EEj0y

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) June 19, 2025

Zhenhao Zou

Born in Guangdong, Zou speaks Chinese and English. His mother is a teacher and his father works in a state-owned enterprise in China.

Zou had a hair transplant and has undergone facial surgery. From 2017 to 2018, he studied in Belfast, North Ireland.

From 2019 to 2021, Zou attended UCL where he earned a master’s degree. Between September 2019 and May 2023, he allegedly drugged and raped three women in London and seven women in China and filmed himself committing the crimes.

In Zou’s apartment, he had a box where he kept possessions of his alleged victims including earrings, hair ties, clip-on hair extensions and a red lipstick. He allegedly contacted mainly on WeChat and other social media apps before inviting them back to his appartment for drinks or to study.

In 2021, Zou reentered UCL to pursue a PhD in engineering. In November 2023, he was questioned by police when a woman told police she had been attacked by him.

Despite being fluent in English, Zou used an interpreter during his police interview and refused to speak English during his trial at Inner London Crown Court in Southwark, London. On March 5, 2025, he was charged with 35 offenses, which included false imprisonment, three counts of voyeurism, eight of possession of drugs with intent to commit a sexual offense, 11 counts of rape and 12 counts of possession of extreme pornographic images.

After a trial at Inner London Crown Court, Zou was convicted of 11 counts of rape. Two of the offenses related to one victim.

The Guangdong native was also convicted of false imprisonment, three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offense, namely butanediol, three counts of voyeurism and 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image. On June 19, 2025, he was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 24 years, minus time he had already spent in custody.