London – Police from the British capital said on Wednesday that 23 additional women presented themselves to say that they may have been sexually assaulted by a London-based Chinese doctoral student who was sentenced last month for raped 10 others. Zhenhao Zou, 28, was sentenced in March to drug and raped 10 women in the United Kingdom and China after “one of the most complex investigations” London metropolitan police said that she had conducted to date.
Investigators say that Zou invited women, many of whom thought they were Chinese student colleagues who study in Great Britain, at one of the two addresses in the United Kingdom and gave them entitled drinks from Butanediol, which becomes the GHB depressant when ingested, then filmed sexually and raped them. GHB is often used by sexual predators to disrupt their targets, as it can be administered secretly.
Investigators could only identify two of the 10 women seen in the videos who helped prosecutors condemn Zou, police announced.
Since a call has been made so that other survivors have manifested – largely on the volume of evidence found on Zou’s devices – 23 additional women have contacted the London police, some of which were living in the United Kingdom, others in China and elsewhere, the force said on Wednesday.
Handout / Metropolitan Police of London 
Investigators from the Metropolitan Police of London, often known simply as Met, say they have evidence to suggest that Zou attacked more than 50 other women and that their work to identify these survivors continue.
“Given the prolific Zou, there are all the potentials that he could be one of the most prolific offenders we have ever seen,” said Metvin Southworth commander. “The main places where we think that the offense may have taken place at that time seems to be … here in London and China.”
Zou studied in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 2017 to 2019, before moving to London. None of the women who have contacted the police so far come from Belfast, but Southworth said that the investigators were “open -minded” the possibility that there are also survivors.
“Given how Zou is active and prolific that seems to have been with his horrible offense, there are all the prospects he could have offended anywhere in the world,” he added.
The MET published a video by the Officer of Zou’s Arrest in southern London in January 2024.
Zou, who studied engineering at the University College of London, was found guilty by a unanimous decision of the jury on 11 rape leaders in March, after the court heard how he had practiced the women he had met online.
Zou has kept certain articles belonging to his victims, including jewelry and clothes, according to the police.
He should be sentenced on June 19.
Police launched a new appeal on Wednesday so that other survivors show up and said they were still compiling evidence to be submitted after the conviction of Zou.
