Jurors expressed visible distress as they viewed recordings depicting an alleged sexual assault by a student against a woman.
Zhenhao Zou, a 27-year-old Chinese student residing in the UK, is currently facing trial at the Inner London Crown Court, where he is charged with drugging and raping ten women from 2019 to 2023.
One juror was brought to tears while two ten-minute videos were presented, which the prosecution claims depict Mr. Zou assaulting a woman referred to as Female A.
Throughout the screening of the footage, Mr. Zou remained stoic in the dock. He denies multiple charges, including 11 counts of rape, three counts of voyeurism, 12 counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, one count of false imprisonment, and eight counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Originally from Elephant and Castle in south London, Mr. Zou pursued a master’s degree at University College London from 2019 to 2021 and subsequently began a PhD at the same institution.
Caution: The following account includes potentially distressing details.
In the first video shown in court, the defendant can be seen adjusting a camera to focus on a naked woman lying unresponsive on a bed with a drawn blind. According to the defense, the encounter was consensual, yet it is alleged that Mr. Zou proceeded to engage in sexual acts with her despite her requests to stop.
The second video, reportedly filmed in the same location, shows Mr. Zou again having sexual relations with Female A while she again pleaded with him to cease.
The timeline of when the videos were recorded and the identity of Female A remain unclear.
Testifying in court, Detective Constable Jack Woods informed the jurors that Mr. Zou displayed several scratches on his back on both sides.
Det. Con Woods also indicated that the videos were likely filmed at Woburn Place near Russell Square in central London, where Mr. Zou resided between September 2019 and September 2020.
Following the viewing of the brief clips, jurors were given time to recover, with more video evidence set to be presented later Thursday.
The trial is ongoing.
