Howrah, Feb. 26: She would have got her ears pierced so that she could wear beautiful earrings. Little Ritujaa?s dreams died young and a few hours later, a mortician was sewing her up after the mandatory post-mortem.

The body of her father, Debasish Ghosh, lay on another stone table. Her mother Madhuchanda is fighting death at Apollo .

?The entire family is finished,? wailed Madhuchanda?s brother Amitabha Bhowmik. ?Guddu (that?s how Ritujaa?s near and dear ones called her) was very happy this morning as she would get her ears pierced. But?? The tears choked him.

Madhuchanda?s condition is critical. ?She has undergone four surgeries. Her lower abdomen has been smashed by the truck. The doctors are alarmed by the way she is bleeding. They said she might go into a coma anytime,? he said, after swallowing his tears.

Ghosh was a software professional, who commuted to Calcutta for work. The only earning member of the family, he lived at Adisaptagram with his wife, daughter, parents and a brother. Five-year-old Guddu was the joy of the family. ?We simply can?t believe that she is dead. Only yesterday she urged her grandfather to order a pair of earrings for her,? Bhowmik said.

A stunned Prabir Chandra, Ghosh?s colleague, described a series of unusual things that Ghosh did. ?First, whenever he visited Calcutta with his family, he travelled by his car. Today, he took a train from Bandel. Generally, he would take a cab from the pre-paid taxi stand. Today, he tried to take a taxi from the approach... A tryst with death.?