A suspected thief and a De Deur, Vereeniging resident were both hospitalised after a case of mob justice, Gauteng police said on Sunday.

De Deur residents caught and "severely assaulted" a 24-year-old man after he had allegedly snatched a woman's handbag on Saturday evening, said Captain Thivhulawi Tshilate.

After they tied him up he managed to free himself, produced a knife and stabbed another man in the chest. Both men were taken to a local hospital.

Police appealed to communities not to take the law into their own hands and to hand suspected criminals to the police.

Sapa