Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 28 (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the incidents of sexual assaults and related crimes against women are showing a declining trend in the state and the objective of his government was to create a society where no woman is harassed. He made the statement in the state Assembly during the zero hour when the opposition Congress-led UDF tried to attack the Left government and the Home department led by Vijayan over a handful of recent incidents of violence and rape against women in various parts of the state. Quoting figures, the Chief Minister said while 15,114 cases of violence against women were registered in 2016, the number dropped to 12,659 in 2020. The number of rape cases have dipped to 1,880 in 2020 from 2,003 in the year 2017, he said, adding that only 3,890 assault cases were registered in 2020 against 4,413 in 2017. The number of deaths following dowry related harassment dropped to just six in 2020 from 12 reported in 2017, he said. "The fact is that the number of sexual assaults and related crimes are showing a decrease between the years 2016 and 2021... Violence against women seems to be declining in the state. But, the government is not satisfied just with this. Our aim is to create a society where no woman is harassed," Vijayan said. Stating that the government is making effective interventions to check crimes against women, he said a series of programmes have been launched to achieve the target. He also questioned the allegation levelled by legislator Roji M John (Congress), who sought a notice for an adjournment motion over the issue, that the situation in the southern state was worse than that in north India in terms of the attacks against women. The MLA should make a self-introspection that whom he had tried to whitewash through the remark, which was made without understanding the Kerala society, Vijayan said, adding that the government was committed to ensure maximum punishment to the guilty in such cases. However, the opposition alleged that three gang rapes were reported in Kerala in the last three months and the police and Home department failed to check the attacks against women. Listing out a series of recent cases of rape and other crimes against women reported across the state including that of a minor Dalit girl at Kuttiyadi, they also wanted a discussion over the matter in the House. "Attacks against women are increasing every day. Some incident even make us wonder whether such cases are happening in Kerala. The Chief Minister read out some figures here according to his convenience and did not reveal the actual data," John alleged. As Speaker M B Rajesh rejected leave for the motion based on the Chief Minister"s reply, the opposition members later staged a walkout. PTI LGK SS SS