“…Chronic indebtedness not just contributes to increasing the vulnerability of rural households, but this is gendered, as debts, particularly those taken from local money lenders, often include a social form of repayment which women have to commonly bear; it could entail favours such as domestic work and in some cases sexual exploitation (Guerin, Roesch, Venkatasubramanian, & Kumar, 2013). Gold jewellery is an asset over which women have relatively more control, yet increasing indebtedness is likely to lead to a loss of this valuable asset, and potentially a decline in women's status, as dowry demands rise for funding borewells (Srinivasan & Bedi, 2007).…”