The father of a 4-year-old girl who was seeking to join the Russian Interior Ministry special forces died on Thursday in the Ural's Sverdlovsk Region after being severely beaten during a sparring exam, medical staff said.

"The doctors said his left hemisphere was virtually turned into mincemeat," Artem Borisov's wife, Anna, was quoted as saying by regional media.

In the sparring exam against experienced fighters, Borisov defended himself for 10 minutes before falling unconscious. All attempts to bring him round failed and the 27-year-old was hospitalized in a coma.

He died on Thursday in intensive care without regaining consciousness. Doctors said that even if he had survived he would have been permanently disabled.

Anna Borisova has asked the Nizhny Tagil investigative committee to investigate her husband's death, and sought help from the city's Soldiers' Mothers Committee. A criminal case has not yet been opened.

This is not a first time a candidate for police special forces has been beaten to death during a sparring test.

In April 2009, Moscow Region police officer Viktor Kritsenkov died in intensive care after sparring with seven special forces officers.

MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti)