AI Tool Helps Detained Indian Protesters Find Their Way Home

New Delhi, India – During youth-led protests against the government in India's capital over the weekend, a 19-year-old woman was detained by police. She asked to remain anonymous for fear of further retaliation by authorities.

She said she was detained on Sunday as thousands gathered in central New Delhi. The protesters are demanding the resignation of India's Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, alleging irregularities in the voter rolls that led to 133 million people being removed from the lists.

After her detention, she and several other protesters were taken by police bus to a location about 50km from the protest site. With no cash and a dead phone battery, she wandered for nearly an hour along a dark road trying to figure out what to do.

A car pulled up and the driver asked whether she needed help. She told Al Jazeera: "I was scared and completely lost. When the volunteers helped me get home safely, it felt like a miracle. I never thought strangers would step forward to help like that."

For a young woman in New Delhi – often called "India's rape capital," with an average of three rapes reported each day – being alone at night and getting into a stranger's car is no easy decision. But she said she immediately recognized one of the volunteers in the car: he had appeared in online videos asking detained protesters whether they needed help. Seeing a familiar face helped her trust that the people offering her a ride could be relied upon.

The woman was rescued thanks to an AI-assisted tool developed by 25-year-old Rajiv Choudhary. The tool helps protesters who are detained by police and released in distant locations find their way home safely.

The initiative, called Detainee Gharwapsi Yojana, combines a digital dashboard with a volunteer network that tracks information on buses carrying detainees and arranges transport for those left stranded. "Gharwapsi" is Hindi for "return home"; "Yojana" means "plan."

Since the start of this month, India has seen near-daily protests over alleged election fraud by Kumar and the election commission. The demonstrations, led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) along with left-leaning student groups and the main opposition Indian National Congress, have brought tens of thousands onto the streets in New Delhi and other cities.

In response, the capital's authorities have tightened their crackdown, blocking roads, closing metro stations and detaining thousands, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government faces the biggest challenge to its power in 12 years.

Choudhary said his network focuses first on helping minors, the elderly and women, mostly first-time protesters. The initiative runs through a dedicated digital dashboard that uses AI-assisted data processing, live maps and information shared by on-the-ground volunteers via WhatsApp – such as police bus numbers and locations – to coordinate assistance and rides home.

According to Choudhary, he and his collaborator, journalist Meghnad, initially worked with a small group of volunteers to connect detainees with transport, legal and medical support. The network has since grown to more than 130 volunteers who contribute their time and resources to help detained protesters.

"For those caught up in the protests, the ordeal doesn't end when they're detained. They can be taken far from the protest site and left to find their own way home from unfamiliar places, often with no easy way to reach friends or arrange transport," he said.

The idea grew out of Choudhary's experience at an earlier CJP protest at Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in New Delhi that has since been stripped of its status by authorities. At first he helped organize supplies and volunteers. As the protests continued, he saw that demonstrators needed more systematic support, especially those detained by police and left to fend for themselves beyond the city limits.

When the latest protests began on October 2, Choudhary built a digital system around the existing volunteer network, using AI tools. The system started with just a simple spreadsheet.

"The goal of the app is to systematize what hasn't been systematized. We just want to be a support system that helps people in their struggle for their demands," he said.

Choudhary recalled a distress call from a woman detained in central New Delhi and then released on the city's outskirts. Stuck alone near a train station, with metro services closed and no clear way home, she was frightened and did not know which way to go. She contacted Choudhary's network, and he arranged for a nearby female driver to take her home safely.

"It's heartbreaking to see people left helpless in an unfamiliar city, scared and with no idea how to get home," he said.

Detainee Gharwapsi Yojana currently operates only in New Delhi, but Choudhary plans to expand to other cities. He said he has been moved by the response from volunteers and drivers willing to help for free because they want to support the protesters.

The 19-year-old woman helped by Choudhary's team described the initiative as "a lifeline for protesters." She said the group not only arranged her ride home but also reassured her and offered moral support. "I don't know how to thank them enough. As long as society has people like them, no government can stop us from demanding our rights and protesting peacefully," she said.