London [UK], June 20 (ANI): A Chinese student who drugged and raped women in the UK and China was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday, in a case that a senior British police officer said had uncovered 'one of the most prolific predators we've ever encountered,' The New York Times reported.

The student identified as Zou Zhenhao (28) was convicted of attacks on 10 women in England and China between 2019-2023. However, investigators said they had identified 50 further victims in videos he recorded using cameras in his homes.

Judge Rosina Cottage announced that Zou would serve a life sentence with a minimum term of 24 years before he can be considered for release. During the hearing, Judge Cottage said, 'You are a very bright young man, you appeared to the world to be well-to-do, ambitious and charming, but that charming mask hid the fact you were a sexual predator,' who showed no reaction as the sentence was announced.

She stated that some of the victims of Zou had sent him messages challenging him about what he had done, but that he had 'gaslit' them by telling them they were willing to have sex, The New York Times reported.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, statements of three of his victims were read aloud, and they mentioned suffering long-term psychological damage. One woman said she was 'consumed by terror, confusion, anger and shame' after she regained consciousness after an attack.

Zou is originally from Dongguan, a province in China called Guangdong. At the time of rapes, Zou Zhenhao was studying mechanical engineering at University College London. He targeted women he met through the student community and using social media and dating websites. According to police, all his victims are believed to be Chinese.

During the trial, Zou Zhenhao said that his father worked in a 'state-owned enterprise.' In a statement to the court, one of his victims said she was initially fearful regarding the consequences of reporting Zou to the police.

She further said, 'I know his family is very powerful in China, and he may blame me for ruining what was a potentially prosperous future.'

Kevin Southworth, a commander in the Metropolitan Police in London, who oversaw the investigation, said that the memory of the victims was also affected as Zou had incapacitated women with a cocktail of drugs, and some victims may have 'no idea what's happened to them.'

In an interview with The New York Times, he said, 'The sad fact of it is that there may well be some women on those videos who we may never identify, either because the images are too poor or we just can't find them.'

Southworth said Zou had a fixed modus operandi, where he would plan social situations that would lead to women visiting one of his two luxury London flats. He would then spike their drinks using drugs, making them physically incapacitated and temporarily unconscious.

He then filmed raping the woman and manipulating their bodies using hidden cameras and mobile phones. He also kept jewellery items and clothing after the attacks, some of which were committed only days apart.

The judge said the jury at Zou's trial was shown videos of 10 rapes he was charged with and some jurors wept at the 'extremely distressing' footage. Some of the videos showed women regaining consciousness and requesting him to stop.

Seven of the 10 women Zou was charged for raping were targeted in China during his visits there in 2022 and 2023. Zou assaulted two women in a flat in central London in 2019 and 2020, and one was targeted in Zou's house in Elephant and Castle in London in May 2023.

The victim of the last attack first contacted police. However, she withdrew her report after doubting her memory and suffering a mental breakdown. After police arrested Zou in January last year, they realised the scale of offences he had committed.

During the search at his house, the police found drugs, including butanediol and ketamine, hidden cameras, and several laptops and mobile phones, which had videos recorded by Zou of his attacks, The New York Times reported.

Zou studied at Queen's University Belfast from 2017 to 2019. He then shifted to London to pursue a master's degree and then a doctorate. Southworth said Zou had flaunted the 'trappings of wealth', including wearing a Rolex watch. He also underwent a hair transplant and had cosmetic surgery on his face.

Investigators said Zou tried to minimise the chance that victims would report about him to police by convincing them to visit his home voluntarily and then used alcohol as a carrier of drugs that would impact their memory, the report said. The police said they received help from the authorities in China, including arranging for a victim to give evidence by video link from the country. (ANI)