Armed with whistles and clad in uniforms emblazoned with the words "See Something, Say Something", 40 volunteers have formed a community watch team after a young Chinese woman was raped and beaten to death last week.

Yao Yu, 23, moved to New York just two months ago. She was dragged into an alley on May 15, raped and fatally beaten with a pipe in the suburb of Flushing, where many Asians live. Relatives said Yao dreamed of being a lawyer and had been working at a nail salon to save up for college when she was attacked.

Carlos Salazar Cruz, 28, was arrested shortly after the incident after a witness reported seeing him drag Yao into the alley. He is charged with attempted murder, assault, aggravated sex abuse and kidnapping. He could also face further charges, said New York City Police Department spokesperson Cheryl Crispin.

A week after the rape, several Chinese residents in Flushing teamed up to patrol the neighborhood each weekday night. The team has since expanded to almost 40 members, one-fifth of whom are women, said Zhu Lichuang, president of the New York Chinese Associations Alliance. Zhu started the watch and is one of its volunteers.

"They (the criminals) choose this place because they think Chinese are usually obedient, like carrying cash and prefer to keep silent about incidents," he said. "So we need to take some actions to show these people that they are wrong."

The watch, which patrols from 8 pm to 10 pm from Monday through Friday, has also set up a hotline. They have distributed more than 200 whistles to women in the neighborhood.

"We have ordered another 5,000 whistles from the Chinese mainland, which should be delivered soon," Zhu said. "Wherever we go, we have had some female residents following us. We also distribute handouts that warn others of dangers and send out alerts to shop owners in dark areas, asking them to install lights in front of their stores to improve visibility."

Zhu said he hopes the voluntary team will expand to more than 100 people and become a bigger force on the street. "With more volunteers, we can continue to do this for a longer time. Otherwise, Yao Yu will have died in vain," he added.

Earlier this week, Yu Guihua, Yao's mother, arrived at Newark airport from Heilongjiang province to the grim news of her daughter's death. Yao's father, who is in poor health back in China, has not still been informed.

"My child, you're so well-behaved, why did you have such a fate," Yu cried out. "My daughter was very pretty, why did he beat her like that?"

The New York State Assembly's Grace Meng said several pedestrians witnessed the attack but walked away.

Having lived in Flushing for 23 years, Zhu said the rape case is the "most astonishing" crime he's heard about in this neighborhood. "It's not a premeditated crime, which however adds to its seriousness," he said. "It exposes the problems we have had here for a long time - We Chinese are not unified enough, nor do we care enough about each other."