Greater than 20 girls have come ahead with allegations in opposition to a Chinese language pupil in London who was convicted final month of drugging and raping 10 girls in Britain and China.
The Metropolitan Police in London stated that 23 girls had contacted them with new studies about Zou Zhenhao, 28, after he was convicted within the metropolis final month. Among the girls dwell in Britain, whereas others dwell in China and different elements of the world, the police stated in a press release on Wednesday. The police have beforehand stated they imagine that Mr. Zou could have attacked greater than 50 girls, primarily based on tons of of movies saved on his gadgets.
Mr. Zou was a Ph.D pupil at College Faculty London between 2019 and 2024. Throughout his weekslong trial earlier this 12 months in London, the court docket heard that he would lure girls to his flats within the metropolis and in China, and rape them.
Mr. Zou met the ladies on courting apps like Bumble and on on-line platforms, together with the Chinese language social media apps WeChat and Little Purple Ebook, in response to the police. He focused Chinese language college students dwelling in London, officers stated, whom he might also have met at events and pupil gatherings.
On March 5, a jury discovered Mr. Zou responsible of 11 counts of rape, in addition to of prices associated to the possession of medication meant to be used in a sexual assault, voyeurism, and the possession of maximum pornography, prosecutors said.
Two girls testified in opposition to Mr. Zou in court docket, however eight others stay unidentified, the police said. As a result of the ladies had been drugged, the police imagine that some could not know what occurred to them. With the conviction secured, the police issued a public appeal for extra victims to return ahead.
After arresting Mr. Zou in January 2024, police investigators uncovered tons of of movies on his gadgets, which appeared to depict him raping and sexually assaulting a number of girls. Officers additionally trawled by means of hundreds of gigabytes of knowledge that traced a sample of Mr. Zou’s crimes.
As soon as the ladies had been in his residence, the police stated, he would provide them a drink laced with a substance that investigators imagine was butanediol, a chemical that converts to GHB, a notorious date rape drug that depresses the central nervous system. When the ladies had been unconscious, he raped and sexually assaulted them, whereas filming himself, the police stated.
The ladies’s faces had been usually hidden or obscured, making it troublesome for investigators to establish them. However the police stated that Mr. Zou usually saved souvenirs of his victims, and officers discovered gadgets of bijou and clothes in his residence.
The police imagine Mr. Zou adopted the identical ways when he was dwelling in China, with video proof indicating that a few of the assaults befell there. British police labored with their counterparts in China to seek out one of many girls who testified in opposition to him.
Earlier than transferring to London, Mr. Zou studied at Queen’s College in Belfast, Northern Eire.
“Zhenhao Zou is a harmful and prolific sexual predator, who manipulated and drugged girls to be able to prey on them in essentially the most cowardly method,” Kevin Southworth, a commander within the Metropolitan Police, stated in a press release.
The police stated that as a part of their replace on Wednesday they had been additionally interesting once more for any girls who assume they could have been attacked by Mr. Zou to return ahead. “Officers imagine that there are nonetheless extra victim-survivors to be traced,” the assertion stated.
A choose will sentence Mr. Zou on June 19.
