Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said that in many of the cases, the alleged perpetrators were often people the victims knew, such as classmates or university friends. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said has called for an in-depth examination of the causes behind recent cases of violence and murder involving young people, particularly women, saying they may point to a wider issue of gender-based violence.

Azalina said the rise in such cases recently was increasingly worrying and must be taken seriously, Sinar Harian reported.

“Recently, there have been many deaths or murders in schools and involving university students, and I notice that, broadly speaking, many of the victims were women," she was quoted as saying at a press conference in Parliament today.