This is the important reason why Indian women are posting selfies at midnight

And it’s incredibly empowering…

You may have seen #AintNoCinderella trending on your Twitter feeds, with a surge of Indian women taking to social media late night to post selfies accompanied by the hashtag.

While on first look you might not be able to tell, the late-night selfie taking movement is actually a political statement, bringing attention to a current case of victim shaming in India.

A 29-year-old woman from the northern Indian city of Chandigarh reported two men to the police for following and trying to kidnap her as she was driving home in the early hours of Saturday, with one of the men accused being the son of a prominent politician.

‘I was in a full-blown panic attack by now because they would keep trying to corner me, and I'd somehow manoeuvre my way out and keep moving,’ she reportedly wrote on her Facebook page following the incident. ‘My hands shaking, my back spasming from fear, half in tears, half bewildered, because I didn't know if I'd make it home tonight.’

Following the unnamed woman’s report, Vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ramveer Bhatti made a controversial comment to a local paper, insisting ‘The girl should not have gone out at 12 in the night. Why was she driving so late in the night?’

Since Bhatti’s controversial comments, the internet has (understandably) blown up with people across the world accusing the politician of victim blaming.

‘If I’m out at 12am, it DOES NOT mean I’m to be raped, molested, chased. My dignity is my right 24X7,’ tweeted Sharmistha Mukherjee, a politician from the opposition Congress party, accompanied by the hashtag #AintNoCinderella.

Women in their hundreds have since followed suit in solidarity with the unnamed woman, taking pride in posting photos of themselves out past midnight and mocking Bhatti’s backwards comments that being a woman should stop you from doing so.

We’re with you, girls.

#AintNoCinderella