HR ignored harassments, abuse, defamation complaints and resignation under harassments

In 2019, was working in a PVT LTD company and I was being harassed and abused at work. I had filed a complaint to HR about it, with name and also to the directors of the company. They had an off-the-record meeting and the official who abused me apologized and I was said this will never happen again. I served in that company but that man kept abusing me every day and I made several complaints to my reporting manager. I was also been kept away from projects and was being defamed as well. Lies were told about me which I never did. Due to this, I had to submit my resignation and under which I mentioned all these things as well - but got no proper response.
I was having financial issues so I concentrated on my job and now as a reminder, I filed that complaint again as that person is leaving the organization and he was not been charged with anything.
Now, my HR calls me and said you never mentioned any name, I was shocked. Then they saw it and they asked "where is the evidence?" I gave some evidence. They are saying, we took measures but you were not part of the company as you were not informed. I complained in April 2019 and I was working in the company as a full-time employee till January 2020 and on contract till March 2020. How can it be possible that they took action and I was not a part of that?

Besides, for defamation, keeping me aside of the project details, not treating me as equal to others and so many complaints I had made - but none of them were taken care of - they were ignored. I reminded all of them and today I was asked for evidence and I provided it as well.

HR never took action on the filed complaints. I told them I would wait and I was waiting - now they are asking me to forget them.
I am shocked right now. Can someone suggest to me what I should do?

Dear Siddharth,

In your past company, you had suffered harassment at the hands of an official. As an aggrieved employee, you had raised the grievance. In the off-the-record meeting, "they" apologised. Who were "they"? Did these people include an official who harassed you? Why did you settle for the off-the-record discussion or assurance? Why did you not insist on proceeding with the legally prescribed procedure?

Who was this official? Was he relative or close to the MD? Did he call the shots?

Anyway, notwithstanding the assurance by "them", the harassment by the official continued. Unable to bear with the torment, you had resigned. With your resignation, the chapter was closed. The closure of the chapter may not be for you, but at least for the company's top-management officials.

When you were an employee, even during your incumbency, your company did not ensure that proper justice was delivered to you. Then why do you expect that after leaving the company, the top-management officials would take action against your tormentor?

Well, gentleman, what is the point in raking up the matter now? You could have dismissed your stint in that company as a setback or nightmare and moved on. Praise and insult are a part and parcel of life. But neither one should go overboard because of the praise nor one should get dispirited because of the insults. We need to look at both with equanimity.

When you were working in the company, you could have taken the matter to a logical conclusion by escalating the matter to the MD. If that had not worked, then, you could have gathered incontrovertible evidence of your insult or harassment and file a police complaint. It would have shaken the company officials to the core. But that all you did was to approach the HR or the Directors who were anyway siding with your tormentor.

The only suggestion that can be given now is to forget and move on. If we remember a few things intentionally, then we must learn to forget a few things as well. Please note that the heart is a body part that conducts vital functions of the body. Please do not convert it into a storeroom to store anger. Look at the positive side of life, work hard and try to achieve something unattainable. Don't waste even a minute in thinking of settling a score with officials of the past company.

All the best!

Dinesh Divekar

Whether a case of defamation could lie has to be examined on the basis of the material with you.
The long delay of more than a year could pose many questions regarding maintainability. Only a capable advocate would be able to give an opinion on this.
Alternatively, I would suggest making a formal complaint with supporting evidence to the Human Rights Commission of your state. In case you are in the software business, a complaint could lie to NASSCOM. I presume you are not with that Pvt Ltd company anymore. In case there are any unions in that company, they could be approached.