The incident took place in the wee hours at the Burrugunta village when K Kishore Kumar (23) attacked M Dhanalakshmi with a knife, slitting her throat. He then allegedly stabbed her 14 times resulting in serious wounds all over her body, they said.
The girl, a polytechnic student was returning after attending nature's call when she was attacked.
She was admitted to Amalapuram area hospital from where she was shifted to Government General Hospital (CGH) Kakinada for treatment, police said.
Her condition is said to be serious.
Both were neighbours and Kumar had proposed marriage to the victim many times over the last two years. Yesterday too, when Kumar approached the girl, she and her parents rejected the offer.
Kumar is absconding and the Gannavaram police has registered a case against him while launching search operations to nab him.