Patna: A man from the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has been cycling across several districts for the past month, looking for his missing wife.

The woman has been missing since January 11.

Anita Devi, who hails from the Musabani locality of eastern Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, went missing last month while her husband, Manohar Nayak, a daily wage earner, was away.

The woman was said to be suffering from mental health challenges.

Subsequently, Manohar registered a case with the local police, hoping authorities would help him search for his wife. However, disappointed by the response he got, Manohar  set out on his bicycle to look for his wife.

Armed with his wife’s passport-sized photo, the man visits two-three villages every day, seeking information from their inhabitants about the whereabouts of his wife.

“Have you seen this woman?” is what the 45-year-old asks every villager or passer-by after showing her photograph, which he keeps in his shirt pocket. He presses ahead each time he gets a reply in the negative.

“During the past month, since I began my search, I have travelled to around 55 villages, covering some 750km,” says Manohar, who is hopeful he will find his wife. According to him, he travels around 30-40 kilometres a day.

The couple, married 17 years ago, have a 14-year-old son. Manohar is quite anxious about the fate of his son, who is desperate to see his mother. He was working in neighbouring Odisha when he was given the message that his wife had left her parents’ home.

A similar kind incident was reported in Uttar Pradesh where a man went on the mission to search for his wife after she suddenly went missing in 2016 and eventually managed to locate her after a nine-month search. The woman had gone missing from Meerut town.