In every school, the sight of Empty Desks serves as a grief-stricken monument to the Children Who Never Returned to Class during the natioIn every school, the sight of Empty Desks stands as a quiet monument to the students lost during the civil protests of January 2026. Hallways that once echoed with their voices now carry only silence, and classrooms hold the weight of their absence. A profound void remains from those who dreamed of a brighter tomorrow, yet now they live only in the sky of our hearts.nwide protests of January 2026. A profound void remains from those who longed for a luminous tomorrow, but now, they only exist in the sky of our hearts.
Malika Shahmoradi, a 16-year-old Kurdish girl from Kerend-e Gharb in Dalahoo County, Kermanshah Province, has been identified as one of the victims of the protest crackdown on January 7 in Kermanshah. A member of the Yarsan community, she was fatally shot with live ammunition by Islamic Republic security forces while participating in demonstrations in the Shahrak-e Moallem neighborhood. An informed source confirmed that she was directly targeted by gunfire on the evening of that day and died either at the scene or shortly afterward due to the severity of her injuries. Following her death, a video circulated showing her funeral, held on January 9 in Kerend-e Gharb, where mourners gathered to perform the traditional Chamari ritual, accompanied by the sound of the traditional dehol and sorna instruments, and marked by collective grief and lamentation.
Sources: 1, 2
Bahar Shadmehri was a seventeen-year-old, from the city of Neyshapur. On the evening of January 9, 2026, Bahar was in the streets of her city when security forces opened fire. Video captured the moment she was struck. In the footage, she is seen running, trying to flee after hearing gunshots, when a bullet hits her from behind. Bahar was killed at sunset. What little the world knows of her now comes mostly from the way she died, but the photos and videos that survive of her from before that night show a teenage girl with her whole life still ahead of her, not a symbol or a statistic, just a seventeen-year-old girl.
Sources:1, 2, 3
Anila Aboutalebian was eight years old and lived in Isfahan. During the protests, government agents fired on her family’s car. The bullet hit Anila in the head and killed her. When her body was returned to the family, it came with a condition: they had to declare that the shot had been fired by “rioters.” She was eight years old, killed sitting in a car with her family.
Sources:1,2
Benyamin Mohammadi was fifteen and lived in the Fallah neighborhood of Tehran. His father had died five years earlier. He was a passionate amateur boxer. He worked from morning until night to earn his own money so he could pay for his boxing gym membership. He wanted to become a champion. On January 8, 2026, government forces shot him dead with live ammunition right in front of his home. His family got his body back three days later.
Source:1
