Members of the Lok Sabha remembered Neerja Bhanot before discussing and passing the Anti-Hijacking Bill 2016 on Monday. Bhanot was an air hostess with American airline Pan Am, who died saving passengers on a hijacked flight in 1986.
On 5 May, Rajya Sabha had passed the Bill which provides for a death penalty even if ground handling staff and airport personnel are killed during such acts. Earlier, the hijackers could be tried only in cases of hostages’ death.
Supporting the bill, TRS member BN Goud said that proper mechanism should in place for compensating the victims. Remembering Bhanot, Goud pointed out that the victims were not compensated as Pan Am was a US-based company.
Bhanot, the senior-most flight attendant on board a Pan Am Mumbai-New York flight, was shot dead by terrorists who had hijacked the flight in Karachi on 5 September 1986, during her courageous bid to save the lives of passengers.
She was posthumously awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest peacetime military award for bravery. The 23-year-old was the youngest recipient of the honour.
(With PTI inputs)
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