Siwan handicrafts are renowned and the shops display hand-woven rugs and trinkets fashioned from rock salt.

WSJ: Staying at Adr��re Amellal in Siwa, Egypt

New research by economists Siwan Anderson and Debraj Ray estimates that in India, more than 2m women are missing in a given year.

BBC: How India treats its women

Siwan is about 145 km north of the state capital, Patna.

BBC: Maoist rebels