50 Years On, Man Reweds First of 52 Wives

Love, they say, is blind. But marriage, it seems, can be a real eye-opener.

It certainly has been for Kamarudin Mohammed, whose search for the perfect partner led him a merry dance, and ended - happily - exactly where it started.

The 72-year-old admitted yesterday that he had tied the knot for a 52nd time and that his latest wife was the same woman he married when he first took the plunge nearly 50 years ago.

That relationship only lasted a year, but it obviously left a lasting impression on Mr Kamarudin.

After a catalogue of disastrous marriages (each lasting, on average 193 days), and the death of his 51st wife, he turned back to Khadijah Udin, the mother of his daughter Rohana to ask if she would give it another go.

According to Rohana, the reconciliation with her mother, who is 74, was not a complete surprise.

"She was right when she said I had never forgotten my first wife all these years," Mr Kamarudin said after the ceremony on Sunday. "I am pleased to be united with Khadijah again."

He had sent, he said, several people to test the waters before popping the question for a second time. "I didn't expect her to accept it."

The bridegroom denied he was a womaniser, telling yesterday's New Straits Times that he did not believe in marrying more than one woman at a time.

He comes from Kelantan state in north-eastern Malaysia, where men are allowed four wives, provided they love them all equally.

The former police officer said his multiple marriages could be explained by an aversion to "flings".

"I am not a playboy. I just love seeing beautiful women."

And he is capable of commitment - his 51st marriage is said to have lasted 20 years. But he admits that the other relationships - one to a Briton - were disasters.

The briefest marriage lasted two days, and he is not in touch with any of his 50 ex-wives.

The newspaper said Mr Kamarudin put down the failures to his youth, claiming he was "young and did not know what he was doing".

Apart from Rohana, he believes he has seven other children. And he only knows that because they are the ones a nephew managed to trace.