KANKINARA (NORTH 24 PARGANAS): In yet another incident of violence against girls, a 17-year-old student was allegedly stabbed by a youth on Saturday after she turned down his repeated marriage proposals. The girl has been hospitalized with serious injuries while police raids are on to nab the 22-year-old youth. The incident took place around 6.30 am near Kankinara Bazaar in North 24 Parganas. The girl had gone to fetch water from a roadside tap. She was standing in the queue when Chottu, the youth, allegedly teased her. She shouted at him and told him to behave himself, but Chottu persisted. Several others were standing in the queue, but none of them spoke up. This bolstered Chottu's courage and he allegedly proposed marriage to the girl. Thinking she had had enough, the girl asked him to leave at once, but at that Chottu allegedly whipped out a knife and stabbed her repeatedly. As the knife struck her in the shoulder, hands and back, the girl started screaming in a desperate bid to get help. As more people rushed in, Chottu fled the spot. The girl was taken to Bhatpara state general hospital, where she received nine stitches. Her condition is still critical. The girl, a Class XI student, was to take an examination in school on Saturday. Locals alleged that the youth, who lives two houses away from the girl, had been teasing her for the last two weeks. He had apparently been proposing marriage to her, which she consistently turned down. A complaint was lodged at Jagaddal police station, but Chottu has gone into hiding. The girl's father, a schoolteacher, has been out of station for some days, said her mother. "We did not know that the youth used to tease my daughter. She told me about it only on Friday and I immediately went to his house and asked his family to ensure that he didn't tease her in future. It seems the boy tried to kill my daughter because of that," said the girl's mother. The girl said from her hospital bed that the youth would tease her whenever she was on her way to school. "I had warned him several times, but he did not pay any heed. He continued to tease me whenever he saw me on the streets. When I went to fetch water today, he started teasing me. I shouted at him, but before I realized anything, he suddenly attacked me with the knife," she said. Police said they have received a complaint and are conducting raids to nab the youth. Prima facie, they said, the youth retaliated after the girl rejected his marriage proposals. Several cases of molestation and attacks on people trying to save the victims have rocked the state in recent times. On February 13, 16-year-old Rajib Das was brutally murdered in Barasat after he tried to stop some goons from molesting his sister. A couple of weeks later, a Madhyamik examinee was teased and molested by a group of rowdies in Chetla. Her brother, who was accompanying her home, was punched and thrashed mercilessly when he tried to push them away. Again, on June 23, two men trying to protect schoolgirls from eve-teasers were stabbed in Howrah. Only 10 days back, three girls were allegedly molested by two inebriated youths near a country liquor shop at Higlia near Ashokenagar, North 24-Parganas, after which angry locals demolished the liquor shop and set it on fire.