More than 150 inmates in Torit County joined the rest of South Sudan citizens to cast their votes in a referendum meant to determine the destiny of the semi-autonomous region.
One prison officer who could not disclose his identity told the press that 166 inmates registered at the polling centre located inside the prison but 17 escaped.Five of the escapees were re-arrested and voted on the first day of polling day.
Former inmates who completed sentence terms returned to cast the ballots at the prison centre where they registered.
Mr. Joseph Gala, a former inmate at Torit Prison, voted while others looked on.
Mr. Gala explained that he was detained over a domestic row and spent four months in jail.
Many Southern Sudanese both in jail and outside the prison walls consider that they are under bondage, oppressed and marginalized, and the referendum will set the entire region free from decades of suffering.