A Malaysian employer and his family have been arrested by police over the death of an Indian migrant worker, whom they allegedly tortured and later left for dead in a remote jungle.

A police officer in Penang said the family of three was arrested after the Indian worker, R Ganesh, from Tamil Nadu, was discovered starving and wounded in a jungle in Kedah on Tuesday.

"They have been remanded for six days until Monday. We have not completed the investigation yet but we have reclassifed the case as murder," said Mohamad Anil Shah Abdullah, police chief of the central Seberang Prai district.

The New Straits Times on Saturday reported that the suspects, Ganesh's 50-year employer along with his wife and their 20-year-old son were initially held for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to Ganesh.

He was allegedly beaten up, had hot water poured on his body and was chained without food for 20 days. "The victim was dumped in a remote jungle in Kedah after that," Mohamad Anil said.

Police reclassified the case as murder after Ganesh's death on Friday.

Malnutrition and dehydration

Doctors have said he was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration as a result of starvation when he was initially found, the newspaper reported.

Before his death Ganesh told the newspaper that he was made to work for 16 hours a day, without adequate food or rest in the last eight months.

The family had been accused of abusing their Indonesian maid in 2005, by pouring hot water on her. The case was settled after they allegedly paid the maid off and sent her home, the newspaper said.

Malaysia is one of the largest importers of foreign labour in Asia. Foreign workers, both legal and illegal, accounted for about 2.6 million of its 10.5 million workforce.