Twenty-three extra girls have come ahead to the police with allegations in opposition to serial rapist Zhenhao Zou – a Chinese language PhD pupil discovered responsible in London final month of drugging and raping 10 girls throughout two continents.

Police stated on the conclusion of his trial that they had video proof, filmed by Zou himself, of doubtless 50 extra victims – they usually have been making an attempt to hint these girls. Detectives now say, nevertheless, that they consider Zou’s “offending group is much better”.

Warning: This story comprises descriptions of sexual violence

Two girls who’ve contacted police previously month with new allegations have additionally spoken to the BBC World Service. One stated Zou raped her in his hometown in China, after spiking her drink which left her aware however unable to talk or transfer. The opposite stated Zou drugged her too – in London – and that she had woken as much as discover him filming himself sexually assaulting her.

We’ve additionally spoken to 2 girls whose testimony helped convict Zou – who shall be sentenced in June. “If I had spoken up earlier, perhaps there would not have been so many victims after me,” one among them instructed us.

She and the opposite girls say they wrestle with the guilt of now understanding that Zou has assaulted so many ladies.

One of many girls making new allegations, who we’re calling Alice, instructed the BBC that Zou had assaulted her in London in 2021, however that she had solely felt in a position to go to police after his trial final month. “I did not know that was one thing you possibly can report,” the Chinese language nationwide instructed us.

She says she first met Zou whereas out clubbing in London with different Chinese language-student associates. The group had all added each other on WeChat, a preferred social messaging app.

Not lengthy afterwards, a mutual good friend invited Alice to have drinks at Zou’s upmarket pupil lodging in Bloomsbury.

There have been two bottles of spirits on the desk, she says, each already opened and half-empty. She started to share drinks from one of many bottles together with her good friend – however says Zou solely drank from the opposite one.

Alice says her good friend usually tolerated alcohol effectively, however this time grew to become drunk in a short time and appeared to go to sleep on the ground. The alcohol kicked in immediately for Alice too, she says.

“Usually if you drink an excessive amount of, you’re feeling good for some time. However that evening I simply felt extraordinarily dizzy and sleepy immediately.”

Zou persuaded her it would not be secure to take a taxi residence within the state she was in, she instructed us, and requested her to take a nap in his bed room. She says she agreed, understanding her good friend was additionally nonetheless within the residence.

The subsequent factor she says she remembers is waking as much as Zou eradicating her trousers.

“I ended him immediately,” she says – explaining how she then seen a torchlight from a cell phone above her head, and realised, to her horror, that he was filming her.

Alice describes making an attempt to depart his bed room however being aggressively “yanked again from the doorway”. Zou used such robust power to attempt to hold her within the bed room, she says, that she “needed to cling on to the door body with each palms”.

It was solely when she threatened to scream for assist, that he let go – she instructed us – with Zou then telling her to not make “an enormous deal” of issues, or to go to the police.

Zou contacted Alice the subsequent day on WeChat, she says, however he made no point out of the earlier evening. He requested her to dinner however she says she ignored him they usually had been by no means in contact once more.

Alice confided in a number of shut associates, however took issues no additional.

“I believed that, first, you wanted proof. And second, one thing substantial needed to have occurred earlier than you possibly can name the police.”

Alice says the subsequent time she noticed Zou’s face was practically 4 years later within the media – after he was charged by police.

It’s difficult for international nationals to report sexual crimes within the UK, says Sarah Yeh, a trustee at Southeast and East Asian Ladies’s Affiliation in London.

“It could be daunting for anybody [from] abroad to be traumatised by rape after which should navigate the British authorized system and the NHS, and even entry the providers supplied for victims,” she instructed us.

They won’t perceive their rights or what assets can be found to them – she says – in addition to caring about repercussions, unfavourable impacts on their research, disgrace introduced on themselves and their households, and potential authorized challenges.

A few 12 months after Alice says she was assaulted, she found that one among her male associates in London additionally knew Zou, however had minimize all contact as a result of he discovered Zou had been spiking girls’s drinks.

The good friend – who the BBC is looking Jie – instructed us he “wasn’t stunned in any respect” when he heard Zou had been convicted.

“Quite a lot of associates on the time in all probability knew [what Zou was doing]. I reckon a few of our feminine associates knew too.”

Jie instructed us he unintentionally drank from another person’s glass at a celebration in 2022, after which grew to become “unwell” and “very sleepy”. Zou then instructed him he had spiked the drink – says Jie – and had meant for a lady on the celebration to drink it.

Jie says Zou later confirmed him a small bag of medication and requested if he wished to “collaborate with him”. He says he took from this that Zou wished his assist discovering women whose drinks he may spike. Jie says he refused.

The BBC requested Jie why he had initially continued to see Zou and why he did not go to the police. Jie instructed us they each had a lot of mutual associates so it was troublesome to not socialise collectively. He says he did warn his associates about Zou, telling them not to hang around with him “as a result of he was drugging individuals”.

Jie would not like serious about these reminiscences, he says, and that’s the reason he hasn’t gone to the police – including that he had believed the ladies’s testimonies had been sufficient to convict Zou.

Finally, Jie says, he did minimize all ties with him.

One other younger girl who has been in contact with police in London and China since Zou’s trial is “Rachel”. She says she was drugged and raped by him in 2022 in his hometown of Dongguan – in Guangdong province.

Rachel instructed the BBC she had gone on a date with Zou, having met him on-line. She thought they had been going to a bar, she says, however ended up at his residence – a big villa which Zou had described as one among his household’s many properties.

Along with his again turned to her, she says Zou blended her a green-coloured cocktail. They then began a consuming sport, she says, and he or she skilled a “wave of dizziness”. Rachel has instructed UK police that Zou took her as much as a bed room, the place she grew to become unable to talk or transfer her physique, after which raped her.

She thought of calling the police the subsequent day, however determined in opposition to it. She feared it might be very troublesome to show non-consent. “It is exhausting for me to show the truth that I used to be prepared to go to his place for drinks and that was not a sign that I used to be consenting to intercourse,” she instructed us.

She added that Dongguan is a small place and there was at all times a danger that individuals she knew – her mother and father, family members and colleagues – would discover out and suppose she was “indiscreet”.

• Particulars of assist and help with sexual violence can be found at BBC Action Line

We’ve seen Rachel’s assertion to UK police. She needs her story to be heard now, she says, to encourage extra victims to return ahead – and since she want to see Zou prosecuted in China in addition to the UK.

Cdr Kevin Southworth – who leads public safety on the Metropolitan Police – instructed the BBC officers had been nonetheless working their manner by way of the 23 potential new instances and that a few of the individuals had been “undoubtedly not equivalent” to these featured in Zou’s seized secret footage or from the cost instances for a lot.

“It speaks to the truth that his offending group is definitely far better than we had realised,” he says.

A second trial for the convicted rapist has not been dominated out and there may be “actually a case” to debate with the Crown Prosecution Service, given the numbers of girls coming ahead, he provides.

The BBC has additionally spoken to the one two victims who police had been in a position to determine forward of Zou’s trial – each are Chinese language nationals who had been finding out in London. The ladies received to know one another on social media after one among them, who we’re calling Beth, posted about her expertise.

Beth was raped by Zou in 2023 and had tried to report the crime to the Metropolitan Police quickly afterwards. However then she determined to not pursue issues as a result of she felt not sure of UK regulation and had been left feeling discouraged after her preliminary interplay with the police, which included a poor translation of her 999 name.

“Again then I did not know [Zou’s name]. I did not know his deal with, I may solely give normal data,” she says.

In frustration, Beth posted a warning on social media about what had occurred to her. One other Chinese language pupil, “Clara”, says she “instantly” knew this was the identical man who had drugged and raped her after an evening out in London’s Chinatown, two years earlier than.

Each element in Beth’s submit pointed to the identical man, says Clara: “He has a Guangdong accent, he appears trustworthy and he wears a Rolex submariner watch.”

The ladies started to talk on-line and Beth inspired Clara to report what had occurred to her to the police.

Months later, police contacted Beth to say they had been re-investigating the case. Clara had come ahead.

On Zou’s seized gadgets, police had additionally discovered a video that includes Beth.

The Met has since expressed remorse over the way it initially dealt with her allegations.

“We wish to keep away from conditions the place victims really feel like they’re perhaps not being taken severely, or heaven forbid, being disbelieved,” says Cdr Southworth. Further coaching is now being rolled out to all entrance line officers, he says.

Clara describes a optimistic expertise with British police. She says she did not wish to fly to London for the trial, in case her mother and father discovered, so the Met despatched two officers to China to help her as she gave proof by video as an alternative.

The officers had been assisted by the Chinese language authorities, who’ve been working collaboratively with the Met and are “very supportive”, says Cdr Southworth.

“I hope that may give some encouragement to victim-survivors, wherever they’re on this planet, that you’re secure to return ahead.”

Beth – who gave her proof in court docket in London – says it was solely afterwards that she realised that she and Clara had been the one two girls to have helped convict Zou.

“I believed for a very long time that I wasn’t an essential a part of the case in opposition to Zou,” she says.

Now she is glad she testified and is encouraging different girls to return ahead.

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