Family of refugee claimant refute claims

The family of Keturah Cupid say that they believe their relative told lies about them in order to obtain refugee status in Canada.{{more}}

Cupid, who left these shores about two decades ago, was featured in two Canadian newspapers and in an online video, in which she accused her mother, brother, and one of her sisters, as well as the father of her daughter of domestic abuse.

In the Metro Toronto News, as well as the Toronto Star newspaper of November 12, 2011, Cupid said she was beaten by her mother, brother and one of her sisters; “often tied up like a thanksgiving turkey and thrashed with everything from cable wires to broomsticks.”

When SEARCHLIGHT caught up with Mortie and Hurbert Cupid, Keturah’s mother and brother respectively, at their Hollywood, Redemption Sharpes home, the pair denied the allegations of abuse, counteracting with their own allegations of abuse at Keturah’s hands.

Mortie, now 83 years old and with poor vision, said that she recalls one incident where as a teenager, Keturah was punished by her brother Hurbert and sister Girlie, when Keturah attempted to kick her (Mortie).

“Oh my God; that’s not true. nobody never beat up ‘Ket.”

Mortie claims that there were instances when there was heated rivalry among the siblings, and alleges that in one instance, Keturah doused her partially deaf brother with boiling water, and on another occasion, she stabbed him in the left upper chest with a pair of scissors.

Regarding allegations that Keturah was abused by a man she was involved with in Union Island, her mother said that as far as she is aware, she was not abused by him.

“He was the one who buy her ticket for her to go to Canada – twice!” the matriarch said.

“The men dem used to love Ket, but she used to take advantage of them.”

SEARCHLIGHT has learned that Keturah is the mother of four daughters; one of whom resides in St. Vincent, and another who died in a mysterious house fire when she was only nine months old.

She is believed to have another daughter who resides in the United Kingdom and the other in Martinique.

Our research has also revealed that the man whom Keturah described as a “gorilla” in her video is not a Vincentian, but is a French Caribbean national who resides in Union Island and works as a restaurant chef.

Allegations by Keturah that since her return to St. Vincent in July this year, she has been beaten by her sister, were refuted by the alleged attacker, Girlie Cupid-Jackson, who admitted that there was a confrontation between the two of them.

She however asserts she did not abuse her sister.

She recounted that her sister confronted her at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, concerning money due to their mother, as well as about a pair of earrings, which Keturah accused her of stealing.

“The way she say so, I had ah umbrella in my hand and I give she a lash on she hand; one time. I didn’t beat up my sister.”

Girlie, a born again Christian and a former drug addict, said that the statements made by her sister were made because she (Keturah) wanted to get back to Canada, and it should not have been done.

“She lie! That is the story she gave because she want refugee status. But you don’t lie on your mother and family like that. God is going to meet her halfway.”

Keturah’s eldest daughter, known as Kim, claimed that she is estranged from her mother, and has spoken to her on the phone twice, since she returned home.

She indicated that she is unaware of the allegations made by her mother as she was a young child when the alleged abuse would have taken place, and has not seen her mother in 20 years.

Keturah’s mother Mortie said that she had not previously heard of the accusations made by her daughter in the international media, and that since her daughter returned home earlier this year, she had only seen her once for a brief moment.

“She was away for twenty years and she come up here one single time; she didn’t stay even one hour.”

“I tried my best with all my children. She should tell the truth. The truth shall set you free.”

The whereabouts of Keturah are currently unknown, although it is believed by family members that she is currently in Martinique, visiting her daughter and the child’s father.