Rape accused urged victim to drink alcohol - court

A woman alleged she was raped by a Chinese PhD student in London after he encouraged her to drink more alcohol, a court heard.

Zhenhao Zou, 27, is accused of drugging and raping 10 women, including three in London and seven in China - charges he denies.

A police officer who took a crime report from one alleged victim told the court she said Mr Zou raped her after repeatedly giving her alcohol and would not allow her to go home.

Inner London Crown Court also heard that police found bags of powder at his flat containing ketamine and MDMA when they searched the property months later.

The jury was told that Met Police officers were called on 21 May 2023 to the alleged victim's London home to reports of a serious sexual assault.

In a witness statement, PC Tijani said the woman told officers she had gone out for drinks with a man who "encouraged her to drink more" a few days earlier at a party.

The statement added that the woman later felt "uncomfortable" and wanted to leave, but Mr Zou would not let her.

In body-worn footage played to the court, the alleged victim is heard telling officers: "He always let me drink more so that I feel the drink more. So I want to come back, and he wouldn't let me come back."

The woman, whose native language is Mandarin, added: "He raped me."

PC Tijani said the woman "appeared confused" and was "difficult to understand due to the language barrier".

The police officers asked the alleged victim whether she had been drinking at the time of their visit to her address, as there was confusion about her account.

Another officer who went to the alleged victim's home, PC Emily Nice, said the alleged woman also told police that another "girl had approached her and said she had experienced a similar incident".

Jurors were also told that police seized substances from Mr Zou's flat in Elephant and Castle, south London, including multiple 500ml bottles of butanediol, Xanax tablets, Viagra and a folded banknote containing a white powder.

Bags of white powder found were later revealed to contain ketamine and MDMA, the trial heard.

Images were also found on Zou's phone of the drug sevoflurane with "suitable for full body anaesthetisation" written on its packaging, as well as of the tranquiliser triazolam, jurors heard.

Prosecutors said Zou filmed nine of the alleged victims, footage of which has previously been played in court.

The student moved to Belfast in 2017 to study at Queen's University before moving to London in 2019 to do a master's degree and then a PhD at UCL.

Zou denies 11 counts of rape as well as three counts of voyeurism, 12 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and eight of possession of a controlled drug with intent to supply.

He will argue that the sexual interactions were consensual, that drugs and alcohol were consumed by the women voluntarily, and that some of the footage captured involved role-playing, jurors were told.

The trial continues.

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