A 27-year-old Chinese PhD student, Zhenhao Zou, has been accused of drugging and sexually abusing ten women.
During his trial, Zou told the court that the women involved in the disturbing videos he filmed were “just pretending” to be assaulted.
Zou, who is studying in the UK, faces serious charges, including 11 counts of rape, three counts of voyeurism, and possessing extreme pornography.
The crimes allegedly took place from September 2019 to May 2023, with the majority of the incidents occurring in both the UK and China.
The prosecutor argued that Zou drugged his victims with substances like MDMA, GHB, ketamine, and Xanax before assaulting them and filming the acts.
In court, Zou admitted that he liked his sexual partners to be “still and quiet” but denied drugging or forcing anyone into sex.
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When questioned about the videos showing the women in distress, Zou insisted that the women were not genuinely harmed. “They were just pretending,” he stated, defending the recordings as part of role-play.
The prosecutor, Catherine Farrelly KC, pushed Zou on the unsettling videos, including one in which a woman pleaded with him to stop, saying it was painful.
Zou responded that the woman had “improvised” during the encounter, saying she decided to act as though she was being raped. Farrelly challenged this, pointing out that the woman’s cries for help were clear and not part of any consensual act.
Zou also claimed that he had given some of his alleged victims expensive gifts, like handbags and clothes, in return for them pretending to be asleep during sex.
He further stated that some of the women had agreed to role-play “rape” during their encounters.
The police investigation began after one woman came forward in May 2023, accusing Zou of drugging and assaulting her at a party.
