Early last year, Ivy*, a Chinese student living in Germany, got a call from the police. At first, she thought it was a scam. An officer said they needed her help with an investigation involving someone she used to know. What happened next turned her life upside down.
The police told her that her ex-boyfriend, identified in court documents as Tong Z, had been investigated for sexual assault and secretly taking photos. Then came the harder blow: police showed her several nude photos that Tong Z had taken of her while she was asleep without her knowledge. Ivy, now 27, recognized herself, even though she had no memory of the moment.
“When I saw that, I was speechless… I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore,” she says. “In the photos, I looked like a ‘prey.'”
Ivy had briefly dated Tong Z, another Chinese student in Germany. According to German court documents, she is one of 11 women that the 26-year-old sexually assaulted. Between 2019 and 2024, Tong Z secretly took intimate photos or videos of several women from his social circle while they were asleep, showering, or getting dressed at various homes in Germany, as well as during trips to Poland, Denmark, and China.
He even used a spare key to enter his neighbor’s apartment in Berlin, where he hid a camera in her bathroom. In 2024, he raped a woman and filmed it. The victim, who has mild physical and mental disabilities, had been heavily sedated by a drink Tong Z had laced with drugs. Like Ivy, she only found out about the abuse when the police contacted her.
View image in fullscreen
Zhenhao Zou, a Chinese student sentenced to life in prison in 2025. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA
Last year, a Berlin court sentenced Tong Z to five years and nine months in prison for aggravated rape, dangerous bodily harm, and violating personal privacy. The case echoed the crimes of serial rapist Zhenhao Zou, 29, a Chinese student jailed for life in 2025 for drugging and raping 10 women in the UK and China.
But Tong Z didn’t act alone. Further court rulings this year found that he was one of eight members of a Telegram group called “German Driving School.” Inside the group, members used code words to talk about drugging and raping women: “fuel” meant anesthetic drugs and sedatives, and “car” was the code name for their targets. The men—all but one of whom were Chinese nationals—also filmed their assaults, shared the videos, and celebrated each other’s crimes.
Three of the men, including Tong Z, have now been convicted in connection with the Telegram group. Dapeng Z, a 44-year-old IT engineer and the group’s admin, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for aggravated rape and attempted murder. Zhongyi J, a 28-year-old Chinese student, received more than 11 years for similar charges. German courts ruled that both men knowingly gave their victims life-threatening doses of drugs.
These revelations have shocked China and the global Chinese diaspora, since most of the victims were also women of Chinese heritage living in Europe.
View image in fullscreen
Tong Z called himself ‘God by day, devil by night’ on Telegram. Photograph: Olaf Wagner/Bild Fotoservice
But Dr. Juliane Kloess, a senior lecturer in forensic clinical psychology at the University of Glasgow, says the rise of online rape communities is a global problem, not one specific to men from any particular country. She says the internet’s accessibility and perceived anonymity “have allowed people to detach from how they would normally behave in the physical world,” especially when it comes to sexual abuse and other behaviors that go against social norms.
According to court documents, Tong Z admitted to all charges and said in a personal statement that he “felt immense shame.”
In the statement, Tong Z described how hard it was for him to form social relationships, especially with Germans. He had arrived in Germany as a 15-year-old in 2015 to attend boarding school and moved between several cities.In the years that followed, he still hadn’t finished his degree by the time he was arrested in late 2024. He had no close friends and spent most of his free time alone in front of a computer, growing more isolated as time went on.
“I got lost in digital images, videos, and fantasies, without realizing that doing so could hurt real people,” he said.
For people who feel left out of society, Dr. Kloess says being part of an online sexual abuse network—like the Telegram group in the German cases—can give them a sense of belonging and power, especially if it feels exclusive.
I keep asking myself: did I miss something? How did I end up dating someone this awful?
Ivy
In Ivy’s memory, Tong Z was once a “model” boyfriend. He was neat, thoughtful, and seemed caring. He also loved to cook, especially Sichuan food. She says she now struggles to tell whether his past kindness was genuine affection, a deliberate act, or even planning for a crime.
“Was he cooking for me so he could drug me? I keep asking myself: did I miss something? How did I end up dating someone this awful?”
On Telegram, Tong Z’s username was “God by day, devil by night.” As the name suggests, the image he showed in public was very different from the crimes described in the verdict. In his chat with Dapeng Z, the admin of the Telegram group, Tong Z gave him tips on how to film sexual assaults: “You can bring a GoPro plus a phone, in case your hands are full.”
View image in fullscreen
Dapeng Z, who was sentenced to 14 years for aggravated rape and attempted murder. Photograph: Jürgen Mahnke/Bild Fotoservice
The two men exchanged over 2,000 messages on Telegram in less than a year. Tong Z claimed in the chat that he would wait a year or two after filming his victims before using the footage to blackmail them. “[They] cried and begged me to delete it, but it never occurred to them to go to the police,” he said. He described how one woman he blackmailed cried while being forced to have sex with him, and said her crying made him “extremely aroused.”
In November 2024, Dapeng Z was the first from the Telegram group to be arrested, after several of his victims reported him to the police. They found the group on his devices, identifying Tong Z and several other suspects based in Germany. Police soon arrested Tong Z, and a search of his home turned up condoms, women’s underwear, syringes, prescription sedatives stored under the bed, and hard drives containing over 2TB of footage. On the hard drives, police found that Tong Z had created a separate folder for each victim.
The court determined that Tong Z’s motive came from “dehumanizing misogyny.”
Since learning about Tong Z’s crimes, Ivy says she has experienced symptoms of depression and PTSD and has been seeing a psychiatrist to regain a sense of control over her life.
“I really want to ask him—why did he do these things?”
*Name has been changed
The convicted men have not been fully named in accordance with German privacy law, which requires last names to be redacted.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about the Telegram chat group on drug rape that shocked Germany written in a natural clear tone
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What exactly is this drug rape Telegram group
It was a secret chat group on Telegram where members allegedly discussed and shared tips on how to drug and sexually assault women The group was uncovered by German investigators
2 Why did this story shock Germany so much
Because of the scale and the cold calculated nature of the discussions It wasnt just one person it was a community of men openly planning crimes sharing advice on which drugs to use and even posting videos of assaults It shattered the assumption that this kind of behavior was rare or only done by isolated individuals
3 How was the group discovered
German police and federal investigators were tipped off by a concerned citizen or an anonymous report They then launched a covert investigation monitoring the groups activities for months before raiding the homes of suspected members
4 How many people were in the group
Reports indicate the group had over 400 members at its peak though not all were active participants Some were just lurkers watching the discussions
5 Are the people in the group being arrested
Yes German police have conducted nationwide raids and arrested several key suspects The investigation is ongoing and authorities are working to identify all members
Advanced InDepth Questions
6 What specific drugs were being discussed
The main drug discussed was GHB often called liquid ecstasy or the date rape drug It is odorless colorless and can cause dizziness unconsciousness and memory loss Rohypnol was also mentioned
7 How did the group operate and avoid detection
The group used Telegrams secret chat feature which offers endtoend encryption and selfdestructing messages Members used anonymous profiles fake names and avoided sharing personal details They also used code words for drugs and actions
8 Was this just a talk group or were actual crimes committed
Investigators have strong evidence that actual crimes were committed Members shared videos and photos of assaults and some discussed specific incidents in detail The group wasnt just a fantasy forum
